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AN INDICATIVE MAP OF SOUTH AFRICA (1890)

Transvaal

• Pretoria
•Johannesburg

• Chai

Griqua Land
West i

sss&a

• Ulundl

Orange

irtelmoth

•Eshowe

Orange Rivei

Bloemfontein

• Maritzburg

• Durban

Griqua Land
East

Cape Colony

• East London

• Port Elizabeth

■US*®

* j

32°E

28»E

24“E

24®S

German

British

Bechuana Land

30°S

■32°S

32°S

34°S

Cape Town

"34°S #

Cape of
Good Hope

20°E

24°E

28°E

32°E

Ordained in South Africa

J. N. UPPAL

PUBLICATIONS DIVISION

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

First Published : August 1995 (Sravana 1917)
Second Revised Reprint: 2007 (Saka 1929)

©J.N. Uppal

ISBN : 81-230-0284-X

GLI-ENG-REP-034-2007-08

Price: Rs. 380.00

Published by the Addl. Director General, Publications Division,
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,

Government of India, Soochna Bhawan, CGO Complex,

Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110 003

Website : http://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in

Editing: Nitima Shiv Charan

Cover Design: Asha Saxena

Front Cover : Gandhiji as Barrister in South Africa.

Back Cover : Map depicting South Africa in 1900;

Gandhiji as Satyagrahi in South Africa in 1913

Sales Centres : • Soochna Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110 003
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About the author

Jagannath Uppal was born in 1920 at Chakmughalanl, a small village of
Punjab. After about ten years of schooling at Nakodar, followed by graduation at
Jalandhar, he completed his education from St. Stephen’s College of Delhi Uni¬
versity in 1943.

Subsequent to his retirement from public service in 1979, he was en¬
gaged in research and writing. His first book, Bengal Famine of 1943 - A Man -
made Tragedy, was published in 1984. He had been occasionally contributing
articles to The Statesman - Kolkata/New Delhi. After completion of his work con¬
nected with Gandhi - Ordained in South Africa, in 1995, he resumed his study of
widespread poverty in India. This prolonged in-depth scrutiny of unending poverty
and the processes of impoverishment had provided him with certain insights. Till
his demise recently he was working on a policy framework, that he believed couid
generate massive increments in employment and help eradicate poverty in India.

Preface

When the Indians at Durban were engaged in a stormy satyagraha
campaign tagainst the Ghetto Act,* Mahatma Gandhi had felt induced to
speak on the subject at length at a prayer meeting in New Delhi on June 28,
1 946. While doing so, he fondly reminisced about his Natal and the Transvaal
days and remarked that he was born in India bat was made in South Africa
'where he had passed twenty years of his life at its meridian.' He had, thus,
re-confirmed the importance he attached to the period spent by him in the
service of his countrymen in that subcontinent. It is a universally accepted
fact now that whatever Gandhi had imbibed, practised or enunciated in South
Africa holds the key to the entire spectrum of Gandhian thought and the
pinnacle of greatness later attained by him as a man of action.

This book aims at a more detailed and revealing treatment of his South
Africa years than is available in most of his biographies wherein that part of
his life gets overshadowed by the dazzling role played by him in India's fight
for independence. The idea is to exclusively portray the South Africa period
on a canvas large enough to satisfy the ever-so-curious among the Gandhi
enthusiasts, anxious to understand precisely how an obscure young Indian
lawyer striving for his livelihood, after reaching South Africa, gave a completely
new direction to his life and slowly evolved himself into an eminent political
leader and, later, a Mahatma.

For Gandhi, the South Africa experience was not something in the
nature of veni, vidi, v/c/.lt was hard struggle all the way. During the first few
years in Natal, the demands of a reasonably good living could not be shrugged
off. Apart from having to provide for his wife and children, he was fretfully
anxious to recompense his eldest brother who had paid for his education in
England with much difficulty, even incurring debts. At the same time, deep
inside him had grown an irresistible urge to serve the cause of his compatriots
in South Africa. This last factor in due course brought him a deep sense of
fulfilment, but it was not without its heart-breaking torments. The twinklings
of joy were often followed by seizures of anguish. Dealing with individuals
like Lord Milner and General Smuts could not have been a simple task.
Within the Indian community, if there were many who had implicit faith in

This is how the Indian community had described South Africa's newly passed Asiatic
Land Tenure and Indian Representation Law which involved further curtailment of
land purchase and residence rights.

him, he had his share of detractors who did not hesitate to heckle and hound
him. In the household, too, everything was not so smooth and agreeable. In
the midst of trials and tribulations, Gandhi perseveringly followed the path he
had charted for himself. His honesty of purpose and sincerity earned him
unsparing help from his friends and associates. Whatever inner void and
doubts he was troubled by could be overcome, thanks to the influence
exercised by certain kindred souls. Above all, as Gandhi himself affirmed,
time and again, God's own hand was always there at every turn.

While weaving the warp and weft of this high drama into a running
narrative, effort has been made to bring out how the two salient facets of
Gandhi's frame of mind, namely, love of truth and revulsion for the use of brute
force, pollinated each other to produce the Gandhian creed of satyagraha in
the course of the Indian community's fight against South Africa's racist regime
to secure their basic rights. Non-violent protest against injustice, which
constitutes the central point of satyagraha, is as old as civilization. But the
way Gandhi amplified it into a full-fledged ideology and used it as an instrument
of change was new to the world. By organizing non-violent campaigns in the
land of stark racial segregation, Gandhi had played a pioneering role in
switching on a world-wide movement against racism which, despite ups and
downs, continues to gather more and more strength.

An equally significant enterprise embarked upon by Gandhi in South
Africa, closely linked to the cult of satyagraha, was that of advancing ethical
values into the realm of politics. Staunchly opposed to Machiavellian
expediency, he not only articulated but also diligently put into practice a
code of rigorous political morality. In this case too the Gandhian touch imparted
to this value system a peculiar kind of effulgence which even the most hard-
headed cynics could not lightly dismiss.

Strangely, Aurobindo Ghosh, the revolutionary-turned-sage, responding
to the crisis the Indian national movement was faced with, had in July 1 909
made an observation which in retrospect looks like a mysterious premonition:
'All great movements wait for their God-sent leader, the willing channel of
force, and only when he comes, move forward triumphantly to their fulfilment...
Therefore the nationalist party, custodians of the future, must wait for the
man who is to come, calm in the midst of calamity, hopeful under defeat,
sure of eventual ... triumph ...' The ordained leader had got himself ready in
South Africa for the larger task which was to be undertaken by him after
returning to India. By leading this country to freedom with the help of methods
he had devised in South Africa, he ultimately set in motion another global
movement directed against colonial exploitation.

The special charm of Gandhi's life in South Africa lies in the gradual
manifestation of some attractive features of his personal character as a human
being and the emergence of certain distinctive elements of his world-view.
The manner in which he interacted with the people he came across was
particularly striking. With some of his friends he had immeas-urably intense

relationships, completely out of this world. An Indian to the core, Gandhi had
absorbed a good deal from the west, though as he went along, he totally
rejected the modern civilization and deplored the way of life ushered in by the
industrial revolution. This aspect of his mindset found concrete and living
expression in the village-like community life he had instituted at Phoenix and
the Tolstoy Farm.

Thoroughly unconventional, Gandhi was at ease as much with the
mighty as with the humble. Possessing neither the power of eloquent speech
nor a commanding physical presence, he could enter the hearts of the people,
high or low, through sheer unaffected cordiality. His passion for peace did not
prevent him from being a determined fighter. He was conciliatory and militant,
moderate and radical, simple and complex at the same time. The fusion of
such antitheses in him was perhaps the secret of his strength. All in all, he
remains one of the most charismatic persons amongst the greats of the
twentieth century, occupying a unique place in the thinking of the common
folk anywhere in the world.

Gandhi's working life can be viewed as a moral-cum-spiritual expedition
in two stages separated from each other, both in time and space. The South
Africa phase can be compared to a long-winding trek from the foothills to the
high point of a mountain topping out into a tableland. The second part from
1915 to the last day of his life has then to be looked at as a maze of
encounters with problems of gargantuan proportions in the difficult terrain in
which Gandhi had to toil on the plateau representing India in search of its
destiny. If in the latter case he had to operate at a higher plane and the
challenges faced by him were more trying, in the former phase, behind every
bit of ascent gained, there was an unimaginably arduous exertion on his part.
It had necessarily to be backed by an enormous capacity to break new paths
on an untrodden route. In consequence, whatever he was able to do in South
Africa represented the formidable, but indispensable, groundwork for the
decisive test which the Gandhian techniques were finally put to in India.

The main story to be told in this book starts with the second chapter,
after a brief sketch of Mohandas's early years in the first. The family in which
he was born, the kind of upbringing he had, his premature matrimony and the
three years he spent in England for law, all had a great deal to do with the
onset of psychic processes that influenced the entire course of his life.

New Delhi
July 27, 1995

J.N.U.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Over the years, after publication of this book’s first edition in 1 995,
some of my friends and many other readers who came in contact with me,
had been asking me how and why after writing on the Bengal Famine of
1 943, 1 undertook to spend nearly ten years researching and writing about
Gandhi’s South Africa years. It was simple enough for everyone to understand
that the Bengal Famine work had left me highly sensitized about India’s
problem of unending poverty that had gripped a large proportion of its
population. I spent a few months reading what important contributions had
been made on this subject by leading economists and other social scientists.
Not quite satisfied with the remedial measures tried so far and the results
borne by them, I took up studying Gandhi who I thought had a deeper
understanding of rural India which figured more significantly in this context.
That is what led to my shift toward studying Gandhi’s life, work and world
view in a systematic way. During the period of my focus on Gandhian
literature, I was seized by an alluring charm of the South Africa part of his
life. I had read the best of classics. No creative writer could have conceived
the evolution of human character comparable in its potency to what had
actually happened in Gandhi’s life from the moment he landed on South
African soil until he finally left its shores in 1 91 4.

It is the overwhelming sense of fascination which compelled me to
keep my obsession with India’s problem of poverty aside for some time
until I had shared this enchantment of mine with admirers as well as critics
of M.K. Gandhi. The work that was taking shape on my mental horizon had
also the potential of becoming a powerful source of inspiration to those
feeling drawn toward public work. They could not have a better role modell
than this ‘Mahatma in the making’.

For the second edition of this book, I have thought it necessary to
add another chapter ‘Legacy Left Behind’. What induced me to do that is
Nelson Mandela’s observation: ‘He (MK Gandhi) served his apprenticeship
in South Africa for 21 years and then as the Mahatma liberated, through

mass action, India from her imperialist bondage. Gandhiji was a South
African and his memory deserves to be cherished now and in the post¬
apartheid era.’

New Delhi
August 16, 2007

J.N.U.

<y ' m. i*. -

' ' iHpjroi* - ,®wi r f ClWj^SpfW^ Pfi^Tiniil^ j| i» ^^>M^ jpWC8 ^ g

Acknowledgements

In the first place I would like to mention the encouragement I received
from my good friend Muni Lai at the time I began working on this subject. I
had been reading Gandhi for quite some time before I got the urge to carefully
study the South Africa period of his life and write about it. It was Muni Lai
who, besides approving of this idea, helped me a great deal in remaining firm
about it until I had reached a point from which there was no turning back.

Amongst the other friends who were of great help to me are Prof. A.K.
Gupta and Baren Ray to whom I could freely go whenever I was up against
some serious doubt. The discussions I had with them invariably enabled me
to view the relevant issues more clearly. Prof. Gupta was gracious enough to
look through some portions of the manuscript and give me very useful
suggestions.

I have acknowledged in the text a number of short quotations from
various books. To their authors I express my gratitude. But I must underline
my indebtedness to Pyarelal and Sushila Nayar, besides Robert A.
Huttenback and Maureen Swan, for the help I have derived from their books
to construct my narrative.

To Sudhir Chandra Mathur and his wife Madhu Mathur I must extend
my grateful thanks for the pains taken by them to prepare a nicely finished
print-out of the manuscript on their computer system. Their Technical Assistant
Suzan worked very hard for five long months.

In equal measure I am obliged to Dr. O.P. Kejariwal, Director, Publica¬
tions Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India,
New Delhi for the care with which the book has been produced. One concrete
manifestation of the interest taken by him was assignment of the responsibility
for editorial work to Ms. Lalita Zackariah who, for her part, performed this
task with great diligence and discernment.

I remain thankful to the National Archives of India and the Sapru House
Library, New Delhi for the facilities extended to me. What I can never forget is
the assistance I received at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teen
Murti House, New Delhi at all levels. I should like to make special mention of
Dr H.D. Sharma, Deputy Director and Ms. Surinder Kaur, Assistant Librarian.

Finally, I must acknowledge the great moral backing I received from my

wife Sarala. It is because of her whole-hearted support that I could give undivided
attention to this work. Thanks to my sons Satish and Rajiv, I found it possible
to complete it without any kind of institutional funding.

New Delhi
July 27, 1995

J.N.U.

Contents

Beginnings

Call of the Unknown

Lead Thou Me On

The Colonial Sequence

The Coming of Indians

He Feels His Way

On Anchor

Finds His Moorings

Natal Indian Congress

Man of Law

Earnest Petitioner

Visit to India

109

Grapes of Wrath

116

Bellows — Full of Angry Wind

130

The Transvaal Scene

143

The Anglo-Boer War

149

From the Mundane to the Sublime

161

Homeward

170

A New Challenge

179

Phoenix

197

In Uniform Again

205

A Solemn Pledge

213

Deputation to England

220

Passive Resistance

226

Satyagraha

237

Compromise and Its Aftermath

247

The Second Round

263

One More Spell in England 281

Hind Swaraj 294

Support from India 307

Tolstoy Farm 312

The Leo Light 319

The Union 323

Provisional Settlement 332

Unto His Family 345

The Gokhale Visit 359

Another Crisis 36 7

Third Round 377

Climax 385

Denouement 396

Adieu 408

Legacy Left Behind 420

Bibliography 429

References ' 433

Glossary 439

Abbreviations 440

Index 441

Illustrations between

236-237

BEGINNINGS

Octobers, 1869

The importance attached to this date in India should be known to anyone
acquainted with the country. When the Dewan of Porbandar and his wife were
being congratulated by kinsmen, friends and neighbours for the birth of their
youngest son that day, no one amongst them could have imagined what the
future had in store for this infant. Yet, how prophetically his parents named
him Mohandas (the servant of God)!

Porbandar was a port town in Kathiawar, a peninsular bulge on the
northern reaches of India's west coast, forming part of Gujarat. An
important harbour at one time, known for overseas trade with the
neighbouring countries as well as Africa and East Indies, it was now the
capital of a small princely state. Having most of its dwellings, temples
and other buildings made of creamy white limestone, it was popularly
called the White City. Surrounded by the Arabian Sea waters at least on
three sides and sometimes liable to be completely cut off, it was served
by a bridge connecting it with the mainland. It was protected against the
inroads of freebooters, by city walls several feet thick. In many ways it
was an interesting place for a growing child and had plenty of narrow
lanes and spacious courtyards for the restless Moniya (Mohandas's pet
name) to romp about.

The Gandhis, belonging to the Vaishya caste, traditionally engaged
themselves in small business as grocers and vendors of herbal medicines. An
enterprising member of the clan, Lalji Gandhi, moved out from Junagarh state
around the turn of the seventeenth to eighteenth century and settled down
in Porbandar where he came to occupy the high office of Naib Dewan.
After him his son, his grandson and then his great-grandson succeeded to
that office one after the other. The last one, Harjivan Gandhi, handed down the post
to his brother Daman Gandhi. Harjivan Gandhi's only son, Uttamchand, who started
as a Collector of Customs was so venturesome and dynamic that the local ruler felt
induced to appoint him his Chief Minister when he was still very young. As was
expected of him, he proved an able administrator. But the Queen Regent, under
whose control the state passed after the yoqng chieftain's untimely death, did not
value the Chief Minister’s honesty and uprightness. She was enraged when he

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

tried to protect a straightforward official who had earned the displeasure of her
ladies-in-waiting. The matter went so far that the Queen sent an armed troop to
surround and shell the house of her Dewan who in turn had fortified it to enable
his bodyguard to offer resistance. Soon after the fighting started, the British
Political Agent intervened and stopped the outrage.

Uttamchand, along with his family, left for his native village in Junagarh.
The Nawab of that state was kindly disposed to him. When he went to pay
homage to His Highness, he saluted the Nawab with his left hand. He was at
once questioned for breach of etiquette. He spontaneously replied that his right
hand was already pledged to Porbandar. The royal displeasure mixed with an
element of admiration for Uttamchand's sense of loyalty to his erstwhile master
brought him the nominal punishment of having to stand barefoot in the sun for ten
minutes. At the same time, the Nawab chivalrously conferred on him and his
descendants the rights of trading without payment of customs duty.

When the Queen Regent's rule in Porbandar ended, an effort was
made by the new chieftain to reinstate Uttamchand Gandhi as Dewan. Instead
of accepting the offer for himself, he had his son Karamchand appointed
Chief Minister of that state. The latter held the office for nearly three decades.
He was as high-minded* as his father. Though Uttamchand and Karamchand
were holders of high office, they had not had the advantage of much formal
education. Their strength lay in administrative skill, acquired through
experience, combined with sincerity and integrity.

Karamchand had been a widower twice. His first two wives died, each
leaving him a daughter. From his seriously ailing third wife, he obtained consent
tore-many He was about forty at the time of his fourth marriage with Putalibai,
still in her early teens. She bore him a daughter and three sons. Mohandas
was the youngest among them. Even as Dewan of Porbandar, Karamchand
had lived in a small wing on the ground floor of the house which had been with
the Gandhi family for three generations. It was in this house that Mohan grew
up with his brothers, sisters and cousins, surrounded by numerous uncles
and aunts. Living amongst them, it was not difficult for him to imbibe some of
the qualities that became relevant to the ashram way of life he was to adopt
in later years. Karamchand's children knew that their father was the virtual
ruler of the principality. Nevertheless, they all led an utterly simple life, aware
of the fact that they were born to rank and privilege, not riches.

At home, Mohan spent much of the time under the care of his mother,
his sister Raliatbehn (seven years senior to him) and his nurse Rambha. As
the youngest child of his parents, he was the darling of the family and,

Later, as Dewan of Rajkot, he once disdainfully snubbed the Assistant Political Agent for
having made some disparaging remarks about his chieftain. For this act of impudence he
was put under arrest and called to tender an apology, but he refused to bow down. The
British officer, impressed by his boldness, dropped the matter. Pyarelal, Mahatma
Gandhi: The Early Phase, (Ahmedabad, 1965), p.185.

BEGINNINGS

therefore, could not remain unspoilt. Even other people in the town and its
vicinity would fuss over him and thus shore up his budding ego. Later in life,
talking of his childhood, he told a friend: 'I roamed about in the villages in a
bullock cart. As I was the son of a Dewan, people fed me on the way with jawar
roti and curds and at times gave me eight-anna pieces.'

He attended a primary school at Porbandar. One important thing he
later recollected about this period was the difficulty with which he got through
the multiplication table. He was still very small when his father, feeling unhappy
over happenings at the court, gave up the office of Dewan, there, in favour of
his brother Tulsidas and moved to Rajkot, another princely state about 120
miles to the north-east. For about two years Karamchand functioned as a
Karbhari (administrator) and was then appointed Dewan of that state. His
family later joined him at Rajkot, a place having better facilities for education.
Mohan had the rest of his schooling there.

Karamchand Gandhi had not completed even two years in his new
appointment when, under a special arrangement between the rulers of Rajkot
and Vankaner, he was offered the post of Chief Administrator of the latter
state, on a five-year contract, with an undertaking that if he had to give up this
office before completion of his tenure he would be entitled to payment of
salary for the remaining period. He accepted this appointment on the assurance
that he would have a free hand in running the administration, so long as he
did not exceed his powers. Within less than a year it became clear that the
ruler of the state could not desist from interfering with the day-to-day working
and Karamchand was left with no option but to tender his resignation, in
which he made it clear that he was constrained to do so because of non-
observance of the stipulated conditions on the Thakore's part. The latter could
not swallow this reference to breach of agreement from his side and tried to
pressurize Karamchand to recast his letter and remove the portion he
considered offensive, as a condition to payment of his salary for the rest of
the contract period. Karamchand did not budge one wee bit. The ruler then
offered to pay an ad hoc sum of Rs. 1 0,000. The unyielding chief insisted on
formal acceptance of his resignation and full payment of what was due to him
or none at all. He was not prepared to accept anything less offered to him as
a matter of grace to which he was not clearly entitled. His Highness tried to
draw him on: 'You won't find another ruler... willing to pay such a big sum just
like that. I hear you intend sending your son to England. The largesse I am
offering will come handy then. Reconsider your decision, therefore, for your
children's sake.' To this Karamchand replied: 'Large-hearted princes, whom
God has blessed with plenty, may yet be found, but you won't easily find
another humble servant like me who, though in need, would refuse to be
tempted even by a largesse such as yours, at the cost of truth.'
When Karamchand was at last leaving Vankaner, sacks full of money were
quietly placed in the carriage. This fact, however, did not escape his
notice. He saw to it that these bags were returned to the ruler.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Only then did he start on his journey to Rajkot where, after a short intervening
period, he rejoined as Chief Minister of that state.

Some of the virtues of Mohan's father and grandfather who did not
attach much importance to material wealth, had passed down to him. The
influence of his kindly mother, however, was more potent. She came from a
family belonging to the comparatively humble Pranami sect which combined
the teachings of Islam and Hinduism, enjoining equal reverence for the Koran
and the Hindu scriptures and known for charity, temperateness and tolerance.
Putalibai herself was an extremely tender-hearted person, unaffected by
religious prejudice of any kind. Her saintliness was fine-tuned with discernment
and wisdom. Close to the women of the royal house, she exercised
considerable influence in the affairs of the state. Everyone admired the lady
for her amicability and devoutness. To be of help to the poor and needy was
one of her important traits. These elements of Putalibai's character and her
austere life, an endless chain of fasts and otherforms of self-denial, seem to
have left an indelible mark on Mohan's mind. When, however, it came to
things like remaining away from the untouchable household sweeper, the
curiou boy had many questions to ask and his mother could not answer
them to his satisfaction.

Mohandas was not particularly bright in studies, though he attended to
the daily lessons diligently so that no one should have to say a harsh word to
him. For the same reason he always reached the school punctually. After
school, he would literally run back home. To quote him: 'I could not bear to talk
to anybody, i was ... afraid lest anyone should poke fun at me.' This inferiority
complex troubled him for long. But he had certain strong points too.

He was in his first year at the High School when a visiting Inspector of
Schools gave his class five English words to write as a spelling test. One of
the words was 'kettle' and Mohan had spelt it wrongly. The teacher prodded
him hard to see the correct spelling from the neighbouring boy's slate, but it
had no effect on Mohan. Except for him, all the boys had spelt each word
correctly. Subsequently the teacher tried to point out how stupid Mohan had
been, but the latter sat unmoved. This incident can be viewed as a faint sign
of his later passion for truth and his sense of right and wrong.

Rather shy and quiet Mohan kept away from sports. He found himself in a sorry
plight when the Headmaster made gymnastic exercises compulsory. His lack of
interest in physical training apart, it ate away the time he needed in those days for
attending on his father who was sick. The special exemption he sought was not
granted . On Saturdays the boys were required to go to school a second time for the
afternoon gymnastics period. On one such day Mohan reached the school too
late and, was marked absent. On Monday morning the Headmaster questioned
him about it and he replied 'I was nursing my father. I had no watch and the
clouds deceived me. When I arrived all the boys had gone.' The Headmaster
refused to believe him and said curtly: 'You are lying.' Mohan did not know
how to prove his innocence. It was too much for him to be called a liar. He

BEGINNINGS

felt deeply hurt and cried in anguish. He had learnt his first important lesson;
'a man of truth must also be a man of care.'

His reading was confined to school-books until he came across one about
Shravana's devotion to his parents. He read this book with great interest. About
the same time, he saw with a party of travelling minstrels a picture depicting
Shravana and his blind parents borne by him on his shoulders with the help of
slings for taking them on a pilgrimage. He also heard from them an elegy
reflecting the agonized parents' lament over Shravana's tragic death accidentally
caused by a prince in hot pursuit of some game. AH this touched his heart with
such intensity that the mythical Shravana became his ideal as far as his filial
duties were concerned. He had another experience of similar nature when he
saw a play about Raja Harishchandra whose life had bristled with sufferings
endured by him for the sake of truth. He was so enraptured by the performance
that he witnessed it several times. Why should not all be truthful like
Harishchandra? This thought haunted him day and night. The fervour with which
Mohandas had reacted to the ideals represented by these two legendary figures
was another sign of moral consciousness in his early years.

Though brought up in a deeply religious atmosphere, Mohan was not
immune to small aberrations commonly associated with adolescence. One
minor temptation that came his way quite early was that of smoking. He and
one of his cousins used to collect cigarette stubs, light them stealthily, have
a few puffs and satisfy their curiosity. They also tried the stalks of a plant that
could be burnt and smoked. Slowly they reached the stage of purchasing
cigarettes for which they needed money. This led to stealing of coins from
the servant's pocket-money. After some time their want of independence to
smoke freely began to trouble them. So deep was their frustration that they
tried to commit suicide by consuming the poisonous dhatura seeds which
they were able to obtain from the jungle. They did swallow a few seeds, but at
this point the fear of death seized them. The more disturbing thought was;
what will happen if they did not instantly die. Soon they realised how senseless
the very idea of suicide was.

Small, somewhat disproportionately built but pleasant-looking, avowedly
timid, haunted by fear of ghosts, serpents and thieves, physically weak,
thoughtful by nature, happy to go for long walks rather than play games, an
average student but very regular, ever ready to render any kind of help needed
by his mother: this is what Mohandas was as a young boy. With his moral
scruples often pitched high, growing up for this dearly loved son of his parents
was a complex process. To make it more difficult, he was tied in holy wedlock
at the early age of thirteen. His eldest brother Lakshmidas was already married
The middle one, Karsandas, Mohandas and one of their cousins were now led
to a triple marriage ceremony, partly for the convenience of it and partly for
thrift. Preparations for it had been going on for months. Mohan who had been
engaged to his would-be wife for about five years knew what he was heading
for. He had studied a few Gujarati booklets on married life.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The marriage was to take place at Porbandar. Karamchand's family,
including Karsandas and Mohan, had moved to that place beforehand. But
the Dewan himself could not leave Rajkot until the Thakore found it convenient
to spare him. When at last he was able to leave for Porbandar he had to cover
five days' cart journey in three days by stagecoach specially ordered for him
by his royal master. As ill luck would have it, on the last lap of fhe journey the
coach overturned and Karamchand sustained serious injuries. He arrived in
Porbandar bruised and bandaged, but with his fortitude intact. The wedding
lost much of its fun; it did, however, take place on the appointed day. Mohan's
bride, Kasturba, nearly his own age, was the daughter of a businessman of
Porbandar who lived not far away from the Gandhi family's ancestral house.
As children, they had played together and probably quarrelled as well.

Full of ardour for his wife at this time, Mohan continually thought of her
during school hours and anxiously waited for the moment when they would
meet at nigt ,t. Sexual experience during the early years of maturation, while
saving him from the usual pains of adolescence, had an unsettling effect as
far as his studies were concerned. His inherent sense of duty, however,
prevented him from neglecting his lessons too badly. Another saving grace
was that, according to the prevailing custom, the young bride spent nearly
half the time every year at her parents' place. Nevertheless, Mohan did for
some time suffer a setback in his studies on account of marriage.

Mohandas was generally averse to making friends. Whatever
companionship he required could be had within the large circle of cousins.
After marriage he could do without friends altogether. Close fellowship,
however, had arisen between him and two other boys including Sheikh
Mehtab, son of the Rajkot police chief, who lived only a few yards away
from Karamchand Gandhi's residence. For some time this lad had been
very friendly with Karsandas too. Three years senior to Mohan, Mehtab
was a different type of character. An extrovert, free and easy in manner, a
good athlete, physically strong, fearless, he had everything that Mohan
lacked. But he was not free from vices. The growing friendship between
the two was initially based on the protection that the stoutly built Mehtab
provided to the Chief Minister's frail and diffident son from bullies, who had
a grouse against him for having let them down on many occasions in the
name of truth. In course of time Mohandas became so addicted to this
friendship that even after discovering Mehtab's faults, he was unable to
give him up. When his mother and the eldest brother warned him that
Mehtab was not a good boy, he asserted: 'I know he has the weaknesses
you attribute to him, but you do not know his virtues. He cannot lead me
astray: my association with him is meant to reform him. I am sure that if

BEGINNINGS

he can mend his ways, he will be a splendid man. I beg you not to be
anxious on my account.’

Before Mohandas could do anything to uplift his friend, he himself began
to be influenced by some of the ideas the latter continually imposed on him.
One new thought that got into Mohan's mind at Mehtab's instance was the
advantage of meat-eating from which, according to him, he derived his robust
health and fearlessness. He had also argued that the English were able to rule
over India because they were all meat-eaters. In fact this idea formed part of a
wave of reform at that time sweeping through Kathiawar that had manifested
itself as a drive against some of the taboos marking out Hindu society. Before
long Mohan came round to the view that if he could take non-vegetarian food he
would gain both physical strength and courage which he lacked so badly. And
if this dietary, change took place on a country-wide scale, India could easily
get rid of the British. Coming as he did from an orthodox Vaishnava family,
Mohan could not have consumed meat openly. With Mehtab's help he secretly
tried one meal comprising baker's bread and mutton but found it thoroughly
unpalatable. The following night he was haunted by a frightful nightmare giving
him the feeling of a live goat bleating inside his belly.

The two friends did not leave the matter at that. Mohan now looked
upon meat-eating as a duty. Mehtab was prepared to do anything to have
his freshman acquire the necessary taste. Now and then they would
surreptitiously have a non-vegetarian meal at the state guest house.
Gradually Mohan began to relish this food. He was not, however, able to get
over the sense of guilt that assailed him every time he went for a special
treat. On each occasion he felt as if he was committing a theft. Whenever
he skipped his dinner at home on this account, he had to hoodwink his
mother by telling her some lies as to why he did not feel like eating. This
itself was painful. He was also constantly troubled by the thought that if his
parents learnt that he had taken to meat-eating they would be deeply hurt.
A stage was reached after some time when he could not withstand this
mental torture any more. He felt relieved only when he firmly decided: no
more of meat-eating until he had found the freedom to do it openly. This is
how he had reasoned with himself: 'Though it is essential to eat meat, and
also essential to take up food reform in the country, yet deceiving and lying
to one's father and mother is worse than not eating meat. In their life-time,
therefore, meat-eating must be out of the question. When they are no more
and I have found my freedom, I will eat meat openly, but until that moment
arrives I will abstain from it.' He made this known to Mehtab and stuck to it.
Before he attained the kind of freedom he had in mind, he on his own

became a staunch believer in vegetarianism.

The whole episode might look innocuous even as a prelude to its
principal actor's life-long experiments with vegetarian diet. But the manner in
which he, for the time being, disengaged himself from the so-called food
reform had its own significance. It proved beyond doubt that, when it
came to the crunch, the teenaged Mohandas had the capacity to think for

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

himself and resolutely put across even to the domineering Mehtab that he
would like to be left free to go by his own time-frame. Equally significant was
the seriousness with which the future Mahatma had at that stage viewed the
necessity of taking to non-vegetarian food. This was one of the early signs of
his intensity of perception which was to become an important element of his
personality.

The evil genius, as Sheikh Mehtab has often been described, crossed
all limits when it came to sowing seeds of conflict between Mohandas and
Kasturba. It appears he piayed an active part in drawing his friend over to the
idea that if he was to live happily with his wife, he should have good control
over her. In pursuance of this thought, he started asserting that she must not
go anywhere without his permission. Kasturba, a little stubborn by nature,
was not prepared to submit herself to such restrictions. The consequent
tension was bound to strain the silken cord that joined the two young souls.
The devoted but jealous husband that Mohan was, he would have slowly
found his bearings. But Mehtab, bent upon stirring up the devil in him, continued
to fan the flame of suspicion in his mind about the conduct of his wife. Acting
at his friend's behest, many a time Mohan meted out to Kasturbai the sort of
treatment that was nothing short of loathsome. Mehtab further went on to
lure his friend into at least one visit to a brothel. He had organized the whole
thing meticulously. Mohan was simply to go and give himself over to pleasure.
What happened there Is best described by him in his autobiography:

He sent me in with the necessary instructions. It was all prearranged.
The bill had already been paid. I went into the jaws of sin, but God in his
infinite mercy protected me against myself. I was almost struck blind
and dumb in this den of vice. I sat near the woman on her bed, but I was
tongue-tied. She naturally lost patience with me and showed me the
door, with abuses and insults. I then felt as though my manhood had
been injured, and wished to sink into the ground for shame.

It is not known whether Kasturbai was at this time at Rajkot or had gone
to her parents. Even if the latter was the case, this was an intensely traumatic
happening. It would not have been possible for the highly sensitive Mohandas
to drain out or digest the inner confusion left behind by his act of betrayal, in
psychological terms, it was not a good foundation for a happy married life.

Mehtab was misleading Mohandas in various ways and yet the latter
failed to realise how right his family was in warning him that he was not in
good company. To make things worse, his elder brother Karsandas was
also a party to some of the escapades. At one stage, the latter had run into
a debt of about twenty-five rupees. For its clearance, Mohan played a leading
role in removing and selling a small bit of gold out of the armlet worn by
Karsandas. After having done it, he found it difficult to be at

BEGINNINGS

peace with himself. The aim was to help his brother. Thus the end was quite
noble, but not the means. He strongly felt that he had committed a serious
wrong. So deep was his sense of self-reproach that the mere resolve never to
steal again failed to put him at ease. At this moment his real character manifested
itself. He wrote down on a piece of paper whatever had happened, pledging that
he would never do such a thing in future, and at the same time asking for
appropriate punishment. Trembling, he handed the paper to his father who was
bed-ridden at that time, and sat there fully prepared for an angry blast. As the
ailing patriarch got up and read through the confessional note, 'pearl drops
trickled down' from his care-worn eyes. He looked lost in thought for a moment;
then, without uttering a word, he tore up the paper and again lay flat on his bed.
Mohan could see the old man's agony and was unable to hold back his own
tears. He had never thought his father could be so forgiving. If this early display
of conscience on the part of his fifteen-year-old son left Karamchand deeply
moved, the unexpectedly powerful effect produced by an honest confession on
the father would have impelled the young boy to reflect on all that he might do
if he could go about the business of life rightly.*

After this incident, Mohandas became more serious about his studies.
His father's illness, however, continued to get worse, causing great anxiety to
the entire family. Mohan spent a good deal of his time attending on him. He
would go out for an evening stroll whenever possible. He had plenty to think of
during these solitary walks. Kasturbai was in the family way. The sixteen year
old school boy was soon going to be a father. His own father’s failing health must
have been a fearful threat to the sense of security so badly needed by him.

As autumn approached there was not much hope left for Karamchand to
survive. Mohan's unde was then in Rajkot. He would remain with his brother
the whole day and have his cot by his side at night. One evening. Mohan gave
his father a massage till late evening. On being relieved by his uncle, he retired
to his bedroom. The fact that his father was at death's door could not at that
moment shut out the longing for sex. Finding his wife fast asleep, he woke her
up to satiate his desire. Within a few minutes there was a knock at the door by
the servant who informed him that his father had passed away. There could be
nothing more tragic for Mohan. What preyed on his mind ever after that fateful
night was the thought that because of lust he had lost the privilege of remaining
by his father's side at the last moment. It produced in him a deep sense of guilt
about sex, a blot which he had ’never been able to efface or forget.' ** The

* While stressing the great significance of this incident, Erik H. Erikson has remarked
that Mohandas's awareness of ’his power to induce in his father an extraordinary state of
mind' by his clean confession had a part to play in the development of his premature
conscience and a sense of 'superior destiny’. Ref. Gandhi's Truth (London. 1970), pp.
123-5

** To this incident, again, Erik H. Erikson attaches great significance. Following
Kierkegaard, he calls this particular experience of Mohandas 'the curse’ common 'in the
lives of spiritual innovators with a similarly precocious and relentless conscience.’ Ref.
Gandhi's Truth (London, 1970), p. 128.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

trauma he suffered at this time left him intensely distrustful about his emotions.
A few weeks later his wife delivered their first child who lived for barely four
days. Even this he always recalled with shame rather than sorrow.

Karamchand's death left his wife and other dependents in great difficulty.
The pension he had received from the Rajkot ruler was no more there. The
family had very little property and hardly any cash to fall back upon. The
Gandhis' social standing was such that they had to keep up appearances.

Mohan's performance at the school had again back-tracked. Gradually he
managed to recover the ground lost by him. From January to December 1 887
he got a scholarship of Rs.10 per month, though it was not related to any
special merit in studies. After clearing his matriculation examination, he went
to Bhavnagar for further education instead of Bombay where the University
course would have cost much more. The institution he joined was quite good
but because of his weak grounding in English it was difficult for him to cope
with the college curriculum. At the annual prize distribution of the school from
which he had matriculated, however, his name was specially mentioned by
the Headmaster. Even Col. Watson who presided over this function, after
referring to the services rendered by Karamchand Gandhi to Porbandar and
Rajkot states, had remarked: 'I hope that Mr. Mohandas will do credit to this
institution, to his father, and to the province.' With such goodwill around,
Mohandas could not have been free from the hangover of belonging to a
distinguished family and the overpowering wish to prove himself worthy of his
lineage. For fulfilment of this desire he could have thought of no better means
than going to England for further education.

After his first term in college when he went back home for summer
vacation, Mavji Joshi — a learned Brahmin and an old friend of the Gandhi
family— happened to visit Rajkot. Talking to Lakshmidas and Mohan, he
enquired how the latter was doing. On being told that he had joined the
college at Bhavnagar and that he was not satisfied with his progress, Mavji
expressed serious doubt as to the usefulness of taking a Bachelor of Arts
degree even if he were to go in for the law course after that. He was of the
view that, if they all wanted the boy to be a Dewan one day, he should go to
England where he could become a barrister in three years. For one thing,
this idea harmonised with the kind of career that Karamchand would have
visualized for his youngest son. To Mohandas, who was weary unto death of
what he had experienced at Bhavnagar, this proposal was like made from
heaven. His 'secret design' of gaining an experience of life in distant London
now looked more than a passing dream. Anyhow, he expressed his preference
for a medical course there rather than law. This alternative was also discussed:
it found favour neither with Lakshmidas nor Mavji. The latter urged upon the
family before his departure that his suggestion should not be taken lightly.

One person who did not welcome the idea was Putalibai. She had heard
so much about the unrestrained life led by youngmen going to England for

BEGINNINGS

higher education. With great difficulty Mohan obtained her assent after taking
a pledge before the priest that he would not 'touch wine, woman and meat.'
Kasturbai, who was at that time nursing the newborn Harilal, as also her
parents, did not feel happy about Mohan going away for three years. It was
not easy for him to convince them that a law degree from London was worth
all this sacrifice. Lakshmidas, too, was wavering, though his foremost concern
was how to bear the expense involved. He asked Mohan to take a trip to
Porbandar and see if through the good offices of their uncle, who was still the
Chief Minister of that state, they could get some government help. Mohan
was no more his old passive self. He ran up and down to explore all possibilities
of securing financial assistance byway of grantor loan, but all to no avail. It
was then that Lakshmidas took on his own shoulders the responsibility of
finding the money somehow.

Mohan was, none the less, under severe emotional stress. Inside him
there was a constant battle going on between a blazing ambition and a deep
seated sense of inadequacy. When his mind was not busy day-dreaming
with regard to the type of life he would have in London, he was assailed by
vague apprehensions about living away from home for a long time, to make
things worse, he was also having some differences with his friend Sheikh
Mehtab. The confused state of his mind showed up in excessive brooding,
low spirits, absent-mindedness, strange mishaps, giddiness and even fainting
on one occasion. At the farewell function held in the Kathiawar High School
at Rajkot on the eve of his departure, he could with great difficulty drawl over
the short written speech he had carried with him.

His brother Lakshmidas and Sheikh Mehtab were amongst those who
accompanied him to Bombay. There he had to wait for some time before sailing
off. His brother, therefore, returned to Rajkot. During this period Mohan found
himself confronted with some members of his caste, determined to stop him
from going abroad. But no obstacle could now prevent him from embarking on
the great adventure that had taken possession of his mind. The same teenager,
who before leaving Rajkot was feeling so unnerved, dauntlessly defended his
plan for further studies in England. He sat unmoved when the headman of the
community decreed that if he did not desist he would be treated as an outcast
and that anyone helping him would also be punished. The excommunication
order did create a problem in so far as the relative with whom Lakshmidas had
kept the funds for his passage refused to part with the amount for fear of getting
penalized. Mohan managed to get over this difficulty by borrowing the money
from another person outside the caste. The next step was to make all the
necessary purchases including the requisite western clothing.

In early September, Mohandas was already on board the S. S. Clyde,
sharing a cabin with Tryambakrai Mazmudar, a lawyer from Junagarh,
who was also proceeding to London. For Mohan the sea voyage was a novel
experience. Quiet and reserved, he kept himself away from the fellow-
passengers because of his difficulty in speaking and understanding

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

English. Not knowing howto use knives and forks, he even avoided going to
the dining-room for his meals, and mostly sustained himself on the snacks
he had carried with him in plenty. Thanks to Mazmudar, used to the western
style of life, Mohan slowly started feeling more at ease. The two of them and
another person, Abdul Majid, normally went out together at the stopovers en
route. They had many things of interest to see at Aden, Port Said, Brindisi,
Malta and Gibraltar. Late at night on October 26, the ship reached Plymouth
and the afternoon of October 28 saw them in London where they immediately
moved to Victoria Hotel.

Before disembarkation Mohandas had donned a white flannel suit.
When he actually landed he found it pretty cold. He was the only person
dressed in clothes meant for summer wear. He felt odd, but was helpless as
the rest of his kit had not yet been delivered to him. Within a few hours of his
arrival in the hotel Dr. Pranjivan Mehta* called in and finding him clad in
flannels could not but fee! amused. While they were engaged in conversation,
Mohan cursorily picked up Dr. Mehta's top-hat and, trying to appraise its
smoothness, disturbed the fur. The doctor gently admonished him and delivered
a small lecture on the basics of European etiquette. He stayed for some time
with one of Dr. Mehta's friends in Richmond. After this initiation he got
accommodated as a lodger with an Anglo-Indian widow.

Mohandas had no difficulty in obtaining admission to the Inner Temple
and getting on with his studies for the Law Course. What put him out was the
effort required on his part to adapt himself to the completely new
environment he was suddenly thrown into. His irrevocable pledge to live
on vegetarian diet made things harder. Whatever dishes he couid eat
were insipid and savourless. Feeling desperately homesick and lonely, he
did not understand how he would pass three long years in England. But there
was no getting away from it. Almost everyone he came across
argued that if he did not take to meat-eating he would ruin his health.
Listening to their arguments he often felt nervous but he was bound by the
vow he had taken before leaving India. He, therefore, prayed to God to give
him the strength to keep his word.

As time passed, Mohan gained some confidence. Encouraged by his
landlady, he went around in search of a vegetarian restaurant. The day he found
one in Farrigdon Street he was simply flushed with joy. He had his first satisfying
meal since his arrival in London. He procured a copy of Salt’s book on vegetarianism
and read it with deep interest. Following it he purchased some more books on the
subject. The more he read such literature the more convinced he was that God had
intended human beings to live on vegetarian food and that non-vegetarian diet was
morally degrading. Thus he freed himself from his belief regarding the usefulness

Dr. Pranjivan Mehta, also from Kathiawar, was in England for higher studies in medicine.

Mohandas had taken with him four letters of introduction, one of them addressed to Dr.

Mehta. He had telegraphically informed him of his arrival on reaching Southampton.

TNs was to be the beginning of a life-long relationship between them. Pyarelal, Mahatma

Gandhi - The Early Phase (Ahrnedabad. 1965), pp. 229-30.

BEGINNINGS

of non-vegetarian food which he had nursed so iong under Sheikh Mehtab's
influence. Now for the first time he was glad that he had vowed to keep away
from meat. Henceforth he was a vegetarian by choice.

His outright conversion to vegetarianism left him genuinely happy, but
some of his associates looked at it as a sign of eccentricity. In order to
remove this impression he went out of his way to conduct himself like a
polished English gentleman. He got himself new clothes at the Army and
Navy Stores, discarding those he had brought with him from Bombay. He
also bought a costly evening suit and obtained from India a double watch-
chain of gold. Instead of wearing a ready-made necktie, he learnt the art of
tying one for himself. He did not mind any amount of effort to keep his unruly
hair nicely parted. All this was meant to have him look elegant. That was not
enough. He had known what other accomplishments were necessary. The
first step was to take lessons in dancing. Soon he found that in order to
dance well he must have a good ear for western music. So he purchased a
violin and put himself under a music teacher. To refine his manner of speaking
English, he sought another expert to give him training in elocution.

His quest of social graces, characteristic of fashionable life in London,
did not last too long. He just did not have the wherewithal to cope with
expensive living. Prudent by nature, he soon realised that he had little to gain
from it. It is only after he had rid himself of this craze, except his love for good
clothes, that he became a serious student. The work he was required to put
in for the Bar examinations was not much. He, therefore, took up in addition
the challenge of passing the London Matriculation. Other subjects apart, it
involved a good deal of effort to acquire proficiency in Latin. He could clear
this particular paper only in his second attempt.

From the very beginning of his three-year stay in England, Mohandas
had been in the habit of keeping careful account of whatever he spent on his
studentship, boarding, lodging and sundries. The practice naturally made
him more attentive to the need of reducing the financial burden on his brother.
Finding that living with a family involved various kinds of expenditure besides
the regular weekly payment, he decided to take his own lodging within walking
distance from his place of work. Initially he rented a two-room apartment. Stili
not content with the economy he had effected, he shifted to a single room
suite and purchased a stove to be able to cook some of his meals at home.
In this way he reduced his daily expense to about a shilling and a quarter.
These changes, quite in keeping with his limited means, instead of making
his life dreary, brought him real joy.

A similar happiness was experienced by him when he succeeded in
curing one serious 'canker of untruth' which he shared with many other

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Indian students in England who went there for studies after early marriage,
very common in India at that time. Most of these Indian youths pretended to
be bachelors so that they could conveniently indulge in flirtation with young
girls. To attract their attention, they would dress up nicely and strut about
like peacocks. Mohandas also was not immune to this weakness.
Sachchidanand Sinha had on one occasion met him in Piccadilly Circus. His
recollection after six decades reflects to some extent what England had
done to young Mohandas so far as his sartorial preferences were concerned:

He was wearing a high silk top hat burnished bright, a Gladstonian
collar, stiff and starched; a rather flashy tie displaying almost all the
colours of the rainbow under which there was a fine striped silk shirt.

He wore as his outer clothes a morning coat, a double-breasted vest,
and dark striped trousers to match and not only patent leather boots
but spats over them.

In Mohan's case his pompousness in the matter of dress was largely
a defence against the view held by his friends that he was too much of an
oddball. In any case, he had a voice of conscience which came to his help
when he needed it most. During his visit to Brighton in his first year in England,
he had come in contact with an old widow who felt impressed by his gentle
manner. This casual acquaintance developed into a genuine regard on that
lady's part. She gave Mohandas her London address and extended to him a
standing invitation for dinner at her house every Sunday. The latter did not
hesitate to frequently avail himself of the hospitality. Many a time the woman
would get some female aiso for dinner and introduce her to Mohandas to help
him overcome his shyness. After some time she began to encourage
closeness between him and a young girl living with her. He has himself
described the situation he was faced with:

I found all this very trying at first. I could not start a conversation nor
could I indulge in any jokes. But she put me in the way. I began to learn;
and in course of time looked forward to every Sunday and came to like
the conversations with the young friend. The old lady went on spreading
her net wider every day. She felt interested in our meetings. Possibly
she had her own plans about us.

When things had reached thus far, Mohan's conscience rebelled. He
now realised that it was wrong on his part not to have disclosed that he
was married. He immediately made amends for it by writing an apologetic
letter to the kind lady making a clean breast of his default. She took the
entire happening sportingly and did not allow it to dilute her affection for
Mohandas. He on his part was deeply relieved, feeling thankful to God for
having shown him the right path before it was too late. This incident was as
important as what had happened at Rajkot when he confessed a moral

BEGINNINGS

lapse to his ailing father. On both occasions he fought shame and guilt by
drawing upon his own inner resources. He may not have vanquished the
demons altogether; he had certainly had the better of them. This was possible
because of his remarkable capacity for introspection when he was faced with
a dilemma.

His growing moral consciousness was strengthened by a new draught
he received as a result of his friendship with a couple of theosophists. With
them he read Sir Edwin Arnold's The Song Celestial. This was his first exposure
to the Bhagavad Gita. He was much impressed by Sir Edwin's rendering of
the holy book which was to be for him an unfailing guide in his moments of
gloom. Even at this initial acquaintance with the Gita, instead of looking at
the warfare depicted in the Mahabharata as an historical occurrence he viewed
it as a portrayal of the duel between good and evil that perpetually goes on in
the human mind. About the same time he also read Arnold's The Light of
Asia which left an equally deep impression on his mind. These readings
came as an antidote to the agnostic line he had pursued for some time.

Mrs. Annie Besant after forswearing her atheistic creed had just joined
the Theosophical Society. Mohandas felt happy when he was introduced to
this illustrious lady. Though his friends wanted him to, he did not have himself
enrolled as a member of the Society. What remains important was the
stimulation of a more enlivened interest on his part in matters beyond the
day-to-day earthly existence promoted by these contacts. As suggested to
him by a Christian friend, he began reading the Bible too. The New Testament
gained an immediate hold on him and the Sermon on the Mount went straight
to his heart. Reminiscing about these days, he wrote in his autobiography:
'My young mind tried to unify the teaching of the Gita , the Light of Asia and
the Sern >on on the Mount. That renunciation was the highest form of religion
appealed to me greatly.'

This new change in Mohandas and his whole-hearted conversion to
vegetarianism were closely related. The more he turned to religion, the greater
was the vigour with which he studied the problem of food a decent human
being should eat to maintain himself. The latter interest brought him in contact
with some eminent persons who were leading the movement against the
consumption of animal foods in England. He himself started a vegetarian
club in Bayswater where he lived at that time, with Dr. Josiah Oldfield, the
Editor of The Vegetarian, as President and Sir Edwin Arnold as Vice President,
taking the Secretary's responsibility on his own shoulders. Although the club
fell to pieces after a few months when Mohandas left that locality, this was
his first experience of organising a public body.

As an active member of the London Vegetarian Society, he was elected
to its executive committee. The organization had its own internal politics.
Mohandas also played some part in it. He liked to support those who were
right rather than get swayed by extraneous factors. Even while attending the
meetings regularly, he would generally remain quiet. Now and then he

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

felt like saying something at a committee meeting, but he was just not able
to gather his thoughts and articulate his viewpoint. On certain occasions he
carried with him written notes which too he found difficult to make good use
of. He constantly felt oppressed by strong doubts about his general ability.
Despite the stifling effect of this inhibition, he benefited in many ways from
his participation in the Vegetarian Society's activities, it was one of the first
important steps towards finding his identity. He contributed a series of articles
to its journal, most of them dealing with the customs and food habits of the
Indian people. This was his maiden exercise in journalistic writing. The written
word was to be his principal medium of self-expression in later life.

A Vegetarian Conference at Portsmouth some time in 1890 landed
him in a situation that put his moral firmness to another practical test. This
sea-port was known for its houses of ill fame. It was in one such house that
Mohandas and a friend of his were put up by the reception committee who
could not have known of its reputation. On the opening day of the conference,
the friends spent their evening playing bridge in which the landlady had also
joined. Innocent jokes are a part of the game but soon an element of indecency
crept in. Mohandas too had got into a wanton mood. Just as he was about to
cross the limits of propriety his friend, who himself was no saint, warned him:
'Whence this devil in you, my boy? Be off, quick!' Mohandas felt ashamed
and thought of the pledge he had given to his mother. He left the game and
rushed to his room 'quaking, trembling, and with beating heart, like a quarry
escaped from its pursuer.' This was the first time that a woman other than his
wife had aroused in him carnal desire. The very next morning he left Portsmouth
without waiting for the conference to conclude.

His short visit to Paris about this time was, however, sans reproche.
Keeping away from the fun and frivolities the place was known for, he sedately
saw the Great Exhibition, went up the Eiffel Tower and grudgingly had an
expensive lunch in the restaurant on its first platform. He did much of his
sight-seeing on foot and quenched his thirst for the sublime by spending
hours in the old cathedrals. The Notre Dame was simply enchanting.

***

The Anjuman Islamia, a small body established in London, provided
a good platform to the Indian residents, particularly students, for debating
political and other issues of common interest. Many of the persons who
participated in these discussions were later to play an active role in India's
public life. Mohandas too attended the meetings, but he generally remained
quiet. Although he had got into the habit of reading newspapers regularly,
he hardly felt concerned with the changes that were taking place in England
and elsewhere in Europe. Karl Marx, Darwin or Huxley did not mean
much to him. On the other hand, when he met the simple, unkempt,

BEGINNINGS

bearded poet from Gujarat, Narayan Hemchandra, determined to go around
the world and translate into his native Gujarati the best of poetry in other
languages, he felt immediately drawn to him. Soon they were good friends.
Both of them vegetarians, they often took their meals together, each one
cooking whatever he could. Hemchandra was just not bothered about his
clothing, moved about with perfect ease and in every field followed the path of
his own choosing. His way of life seems to have left a mark on Mohandas,
though it remained inconspicuous for many years.

When his time in England was coming to a close, he began to be
troubled by a serious doubt as to whether he would be successful in the
profession for which he was preparing himself. He had an idea of the kind of
work that a lawyer was required to do but did not feel confident that he would
be in a position to cope with it. When he came to England he had brought a
letter of introduction to Dadabhai Naoroji* also. He had met him on one
occasion, but did not have the heart to go to him again to seek his advice on
the problem that was bothering him. He somehow picked up the courage to
consult Mr. Frederick Pincutt who had been acting as a guide to most Indian
students. He not only advised him how to equip himself for his professional
life, but also tried to brush off some of his pessimism.

After he had passed all his examinations, he was called to the bar on
June 1 0, 1 891 . Two days later he sailed for India. On landing at Bombay he was
received by his eldest brother. Apart from other things, he enquired about his
mother. He was not prepared for the shock he received when Lakshmidas, with
his eyes cast down and moist with much-restrained tears, disclosed that she
had passed away before his departure from England. This fact had been purposely
withheld from him so that he should be able to get back home in peace.

They did not immediately leave for Rajkot. Mohandas was taken to the
residence of Dr. Mehta who had insisted that he stay with him. Thus the
acquaintance made in England was gradually ripening into a close friendship.
It was at this time that Mohandas met Rajchandra whom he called Raychandbhai
or Kavi, the son-in-law of Dr. Mehta's elder brother. Engaged in the business of
jewellery, he was undeniably a man of God, well-versed in Hindu scriptures. He
was also fond of writing poetry. What fascinated Mohandas straightaway was
his prodigious memory. At the moment he little knew that the person he had
met was going to be his spiritual guide in the years to come.

He had also to take care of the order of excommunication from his
caste which had been passed when he left for England. As advised by his
brother, he undertook a pilgrimage to Nasik to atone for the transgression
by a holy dip in the Godavari as part of the purificatory rites. It was

* Described as the Grand Old Man of India, he was one of the moving spirits behind the
Indian National Congress established in 1885. He had laboured for long to create
organized public life in India. He was at this time in England struggling against all odds
to vindicate the right he had diligently earned to stand as a Liberal (Radical) candidate
for election to the House of Commons from Central Finsbury.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

followed by a ceremonial dinner to his elders at Rajkot. Some of his detractors
were still not reconciled. Instead of bearing any grudge against them,
Mohandas quietly accepted the restraints imposed on him, feeling confident
that the iron heel would slowly wear off.

For all members of the family, Mohan's home-coming was a very special
occasion. The expensive face-lift the house had undergone and the new
furniture as well as crockery brought in were a visible expression of the gusto
with which Lakshmidas had welcomed his brother. The latter, however, did
not like the extravagance he noticed, but on his own part he did not hesitate
to set in motion various changes in the life-style of the entire household. In
this matter he had acted like a typical young Indian, fresh from England.

After a brief respite, Mohandas moved back to Bombay and set up an
office there to start his law practice. The fact that his brother, who had spent
so much on his foreign education, expected him to quickly turn into a money-
spinner, was all the time weighing on his mind. When it came to brass tacks,
he could readily see that his earlier misgivings were not baseless. This was
one profession in which a beginner was always handicapped. In his case, the
difficulties were far more serious. To acquire a working knowledge of Indian
law itself was an arduous task. His conscience was another formidable
obstacle. He could not reconcile himself to obtaining briefs through agents
on payment of commission. When he did get his first brief and stood up to
cross-examine the witnesses, he lost his nerve: in consequence he had to
withdraw and ask a colleague to take over the case. His confidence was
badly shaken. Who would ever like to entrust legal work to such a lawyer?
Even otherwise, the competition in Bombay was too hard. At times he thought
of going to some other country to earn his living. He also toyed with the idea
of undertaking journalistic work, but nothing came out of it. In desperation, he
even tried to take a part-time teacher's job, which he was unable to secure as
he did not have an Indian University degree.

He was still trying to recover from the trauma he had suffered on account
of his mother's death. Outwardly he went about as if nothing had happened.
But deep inside, the wound was too grave for quick healing. A great pillar of
emotional strength, Putalibai had been the hub of his inner universe, the
pole-star that had guided his footsteps in his early years. His overweighing
grief, the disappointments he had met with in his search for a livelihood, all
plunged him into dark despair which it was not easy to come out of. The
silver lining to these clouds was the friendliness that had grown between him
and Rajchandra, an earnest seeker after Truth. The state of equipoise that
the latter had attained encouraged Mohandas to look at his own problems
with some degree of philosophic detachment.

CALL OF THE UNKNOWN

Having failed in Bombay, Mohandas in consultation with his brother
went back to Rajkot. His hands were empty and heart bereft of hope. The
perplexities of life in the mofussil were foreseeable and he tried to meet them
as best as he could. It did not, however, take him long to discover his aptitude
for drafting applications and petitions. With Lakshmidas's help he was able
to get enough work of this type. It could not have been very satisfying to the
young barrister, but he had to make a living somehow. It brought him about
Rs.300 a month which in those times was a good income for a lawyer to start
with. He would have gradually settled down, but for an unfortunate incident
that threw his life completely out of gear.

His elder brother, a small-time pleader, had been an adviser to the
ruler of Porbandar before the Government of India, taking cognizance of mal¬
administration in the chieftaincy, snatched most of his powers and placed
his tiny state under an administrator. Apart from other things, the Rana was
alleged to have removed some jewels from the state treasury. It was presumed
that all this had been done at Lakshmidas's prompting. His name was under
a cloud on that account. How he stood in the estimation of the Political Agent
at Rajkot (Charles Ollivant) was of great importance to him. Mohandas had
casually met this person in England and had found him quite friendly.
Lakshmidas persuaded his younger brother to meet him and intercede on his
behalf. Much against his will, Mohandas sought an appointment and went
across to the officer. At first the Englishman was polite. The moment he
learnt the purpose behind this visit, he became cold and stiff. Firm in his
belief that Lakshmidas was an intriguer, he refused to listen to Mohandas.
When the latter persisted in having his say, the officer lost temper and asked
his peon to show him the door. He was literally pushed out of the chamber.
Furious at this insult, Mohandas seriously considered filing a suit against the
officer. No less a person than Sir Pherozeshah Mehta* was consulted. He
wanted the young man to cool off: such things, according to him, were part of
life in India. While accepting this counsel, Mohandas made up his mind that
in future he would never try to take advantage of a private contact and expose
himself to embarrassment.

* A leading public figure of Bombay Presidency, he had a prominent role in the setting up
of the Indian National Congress. The very qualities which put him in the vanguard of
Indian political life had also brought him into limelight in the legal profession.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

This incident, however, left him bitter. He was constantly tormented by
the thought that practice of law in Rajkot would mean either submission to
arrogant behaviour on the part of those in authority or outright collision with
them sooner or later. It was also clear that, under the existing circumstances,
despite his education in England he could not look forward to a political
appointment comparable to that of his father. This was not the only thing to
put him out. Even at home everything was not to his liking. His relations with
Kasturba were anything but pleasant. He was feeling thoroughly depressed,
when he got an offer of a brief assignment overseas. Abdul Karim Jhaveri, a
partner of Abdulla and Company, a flourishing business firm in South Africa
involved in a complicated court case there, wrote from Porbandar to Lakshmidas
requesting for his younger brother's services. He was to go to South Africa
and assist the lawyers engaged by the company. The job was to last for a
year, for which the firm undertook to pay a sum of £1 05 and provide a free
first-class passage both ways with an assurance that for the entire period he
would be looked after as a guest. All things considered, the terms offered
were far from attractive. Mohandas also sensed that it was not an attorney’s
work that he would be going for. He was, however, so fed up with his lot then
that he could not resist the temptation to take the uninspiring job that had
come his way. For one thing, it provided an escape from the hell at Rajkot: it
also could open an avenue for trying his luck in another country. With no
expenditure to be incurred on his maintenance, he thought, he would be able
to remit to his brother the amount he received from his employers.

He was ready to leave for South Africa in April 1893, less than two
years after his return from London. His wife could not have liked it despite the
continuing tension between them. Momentarily Mohandas himself felt the
wrench of parting. All in all, his distress on this occasion was nothing as
compared to what he had experienced at the time he left for England in 1 888.
In these five years he had matured a great deal.

***

On arrival at Bombay, Mohandas found that the agent of Dada Abdulla
and Company had not been able to secure for him a first-class passage on
the steamship he was to board. The Governor-General of Mozambique,
accompanied by his entourage, was to travel by the same boat s.s.
Safari , scheduled to sail for Zanzibar on April 1 9, 1 893. All first-class berths
were, therefore, booked. Conscious of his status as a barrister, Mohandas
did not like the idea of going as a deck-passenger. He went to the captain
and requested him to find some means to squeeze him in. The officer was
good enough to allot him the extra berth in his own cabin. Soon the two of
them got pretty friendly with each other. They spent a good part of their time
playing chess. Gandhi did not know the game. The captain, himself not a
good player, explained to him how the different moves were made. That proved
to be a good pastime.

CALL OF THE UNKNOWN

At Lamur, the first port of call, the halt was very brief. Nevertheless
Gandhi went out to see the place. Finding a few Indians at work in the Post
Office, he talked to them for a while. He also saw some Africans and tried to
get a feel of the way they lived. All this took some time and he got a little late.
When the boat he had taken approached the ship, it was unable to contact
the embarkation ladder due to a strong current. The first whistle had already
gone. The captain was a witness to what was happening. He detained the
steamer for an extra five minutes. In the meantime, the ladder had been
raised. The captain had to arrange for Gandhi to be drawn up with the help of
a rope. The incident was for him an unforgettable lesson in punctuality.

The captain had developed a great liking for Gandhi. It is doubtful if he
really understood him. At Zanzibar, he took him along with another friend for
an outing. Initially Gandhi had no idea what plan the captain had for this
jaunt. As was intended by him, the guide took them to a whorehouse. Each
of them was shown into a room. Gandhi 'simply stood there dumb with
shame.' The poor woman must have been puzzled by his weird manner. When
the captain after some time called him, he came out as he had gone in.
Gandhi was thankful to God that he had not debased himself. But he also felt
ashamed and pitied himself for his lack of courage to refuse a visit to such
quarters. This was in his life not the first occasion of its kind. He could not
but look at the happening with a sense of horror.

The passengers for Mozambique and Durban were to be transferred to
another ship and they had to be in the port for about a week. Gandhi found it
convenient to take a lodging in the town. Thus, he was able to see a good
deal of the place. One thing he could not resist was a visit to the law court.
There he watched the proceedings of a case in progress. The witness under
examination was being questioned by a Farsi lawyer about debit and credit
entries in a ledger. The court scene was of considerable interest to Gandhi
who was to be involved with a similar case on arrival in South Africa. Knowing
nothing about the subject, he felt bewildered. It required some effort on his
part to compose himself.

***

During the voyage Gandhi had plenty of time to reflect. All the
remembrances and yearnings that filled his heart at this time are not on
record anywhere. But one can imagine his unmellowed mind crowded with
memories, old and recent. He vividly remembered many incidents of his
school days and every detail of his marriage to Kasturba. He could recollect
the deep sense of devotion to his parents as intensely as the inability to
resist his desire for sex even while his father was on the death bed. The
whole drama preceding his departure for England in 1 888 was also fresh in
his mind. What a torment it had been to part with his mother! Physically no
more, she had left an unfading imprint on his psyche.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The recollections of his studentship in London and self-searching in
those years remained a vital part of his consciousness. The spirit in which he
had ultimately come to practise vegetarianism harmonized with other traits
of character manifested by him early in life. Truth had already taken an
important place in his system of values.

Deep in his mind, he was anxious to reach some corner of the world
where he could achieve success and wipe off the scars left by his failure as
a lawyer in India. He also had a strong desire to recompense his family for
the burden it had borne to finance his education in England. He knew that
Lakshmidas had his own expectations about the wealth and prestige that his
younger brother could earn for all of them.

With lingering nostalgia, Gandhi thought of his wife and the two little
children he had left behind at Rajkot. The continuing double-think that marked
his relationship with Kasturba did have an element of remorse about the
manner in which he had on occasions made her miserable. One of the
difficulties that came in the way of adjustment between them arose out of the
fact that Kasturba was a completely different person as compared to his late
mother whose approach to life had shaped Gandhi's view of an ideal woman.
Kasturba did not have the qualities that distinguished Putalibai. More than
that, she was not prepared to change. Thanks to his own foreign education,
he was anxious to educate her too fast. In this process he had been intolerant
many a time. The disheartening view of things past was mingled with quite
another picture of domestic bliss, that should be within his grasp, if he could
establish himself as a successful lawyer in the country he was going to. The
doleful memories were thus dissolving into dreams for the future.

Across the flood of these and many other thoughts Gandhi could not
have seen the future that lay before him. The laws of life have their own
mystique. The human spirit, it appears, has a strange power ingrained within
itself that drives it in the direction of its natural destiny. What matters more
than anything else is the emergence of appropriate ideals which are like
stars guiding the seafaring man on a vast sea. In Gandhi's case all this was
to take place in South Africa, where he was to reach in a few days.

After calling at Mozambique, the steamship in which Gandhi had sailed
from Zanzibar reached Durban on May 23,1893. He felt enchanted by the
superb view of the vast harbour area, with undulating hillocks, green with
forest and foliage, in the background. It was the best time of the year to be
in this part of Africa. The weather was lovely. It took Gandhi no time to
discover that as far as non-whites were concerned the social climate for
them was far from pleasant. The manner in which the port officials dealt with
the Indian workers and even passengers made it clear that the coloured man
should not look for equality in this land.

CALL OF THE UNKNOWN

Dada Abdulla Sheth, Gandhi's employer, was there to receive him.
Though virtually uneducated, the talented Sheth was shrewd and sharp. The
moment he saw Gandhi, immaculately dressed in an ostentatious frock-
coat, he at once suspected that Abdul Karim had sent him a 'white elephant'.
Time alone was to tell, what kind of person had come to work for him. Gandhi
on his own part had not failed to notice how the merchant prince loved to be
surrounded by numerous functionaries obsequiously fawning on him. So, the
first impression on either side was not too happy. Before putting Gandhi on to
his work, Dada Abdulla wanted to size him up. It so happened that the Sheth,
a devout Muslim, was deeply interested in the teachings of the Holy Koran.
Gandhi himself had as much interest in other religions as in his own. He
listened to his employer's enunciations about Islam with rapt attention and
put across his own ideas sagaciously. The exchange of views on religious
matters between the two persons brought them close to each other.

The case for which Gandhi had been commissioned was going on in
Pretoria, the Transvaal capital. He had some time in Durban to acquaint
himself with the affairs. A couple of days after his arrival, along with Abdulla
Sheth, he went to the local court where he was introduced to various people.
He occupied one of the vacant chairs to watch the proceedings. The magistrate
looked at him with some curiosity and, struck by the turban on his head,
abruptly asked him to take it off. There were some other Indians present with
their headgear on. Taken by surprise on hearing the magistrate's order, Gandhi
looked at him astringently for a moment, apologized in a sarcastic tone and
walked out of the court.

He pondered over this new threat to his sense of dignity. He first tried
to understand the basis on which the magistrate had taken objection to his
head-dress. A large number of Indians had been brought to Natal as
indentured labourers, mostly to work at the plantations owned by European
colonists. Numerous Indian traders had also come and engaged themselves
in business. Afew of them were able to do exceedingly well. In course of time
they got Parsi and other educated Indians to work as clerks and shop
assistants. Employment of this nature to a limited extent was also availed of
by the more pushing among the wards of indentured labourers who, on expiry
of their agreement period, had settled in the Colony as free persons. Many
among them had embraced Christianity and were employed on a variety of
jobs. Some of them worked as waiters in the hotels. Afew thousand Indians
had crossed over to the T ransvaal and the Cape: those who went over to the
Orange Free State did not number more than a few hundred.

The Europeans made little distinction between the different groups
among Indians, no matter what their vocation or social status was. In their
eyes, they were all coolies, also called samis*. Both the terms smacked of

* Ironically, this term, based on the popular Tamil names with this ending, was derived from
the Sanskrit word Swami (meaning Master).

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

contempt. In order to feel a little more respectable, the Gujarati traders liked
to pass off as Arabs: the way they dressed helped them in this pretence.
Parsis, having a distinctive dress of their own, described themselves as
Persians.

Dada Abdulla explained to Gandhi that a person attired in what looked
like Muslim dress might keep his turban on, but the other Indians on entering
a court were expected to remove it. With this custom in vogue, Gandhi felt
that wearing a turban would necessarily involve taking it off. To escape this
insult, he thought, it would be prudent to put on an English hat. Dada Abdulla
did not like the idea and said: The Indian turban sits well on your head. If you
wear an English hat, the people might take you for a waiter.' His other argument
was that it would discourage those who had so far persisted in wearing the
Indian dress. Gandhi did not appreciate the Sheth's remark that it would be
awful to look like a waiter. However, impressed by the latter part of his reasoning,
Gandhi decided not to give up the use of turban. The matter, however, was
discussed at length in the newspapers. The debate on the issue included the
voice of those who had viewed it coolly. There were others who vehemently
criticized the 'unwelcome visitor' for his audacity. Gandhi himself wrote to the
editor of the Natal Advertiser because this paper had been particularly hostile
in reporting the incident in question. While putting up his defence in favour of
wearing a turban in the court, he made it clear that he meant no discourtesy
to the magistrate. In this letter he had taken good care to see that the dust
raised as a result of the occurrence should not make things difficult for him in
case he found it expedient to set up law practice in Durban at a later stage.
Strangely, a day after this letter was published, the more amicable Natal
Mercury carried an interesting story: 'We hear there is quite a flutter of
excitement amongst the legal fraternity... The innocent cause is the rumour
that an Indian gentleman, holding an English barrister's diploma, is about to
fix his tent in our midst and try his luck.'

As a consequence of the turban incident, Gandhi was a known person
within a few days of his arrival in Durban. At the personal level also, he had
come in contact with several important Indians including Parsi Rustomji and
Adamji Miyakhan who later became his political associates. Among the local
Indian Christians too, he picked up acquaintance with a few persons including
Subhan Godfrey. Gandhi had a warm and disarming simplicity which won
him many friends wherever he went.

He had been in Durban only for a few days when Abdulla Sheth received
a communication from the firm's lawyer at Pretoria requesting him to come
over there or send a representative to help him prepare the case. He asked
Gandhi if he could now go to Pretoria. The latter undertook to do it after he
had thoroughly studied the case. He made a concerted effort to understand
all the ins and outs of the lawsuit with the help of clerks. As the entire case
revolved around accounts, a subject with which he was unfamiliar, he went
deep into the maze of tallies and computations. To be very clear, he even
studied a manual on book-keeping.

CALL OF THE UNKNOWN

Having done his homework, Gandhi was ready to go: so he told Abdulla
Sheth. The latter cautioned him that some persons friendly to the other party,
namely Sheth Tyeb Haji Khan Mohammed, might attempt an access to his
papers or otherwise try to influence him. His advice was not to get too familiar
with those people. Gandhi assured him that nobody would be able to do any
of these things. At the same time, he added that he did intend to be acquainted
with Sheth Tyeb and, if possible, try to settle the case out of court. Though
somewhat startled at this suggestion, Abdulla Sheth conceded that there
could be nothing better than an amicable settlement. In the beginning, he
had many misgivings about Gandhi. By now he had changed his mind. All
the same, he went on to say: 'We are all relatives and know one another very
well. Tyeb Sheth is not a man to consent to a settlement easily. With the
slightest wariness on our part, he would extract all sorts of concessions out
of us, and do us down in the end. So please think twice before you do
anything.' The way Gandhi reassured Abdulla Sheth, he was left with no
reason to feel uneasy.

LEAD THOU ME ON

For reaching Pretoria, after overnight rail travel from Durban to Charlestown,
one had to avail of the tedious stage-coach service for Johannesburg with a short
train journey beyond that point. A first-class rail-cum-coach ticket up to
Johannesburg had been purchased for Gandhi. A passenger was required to pay
five shillings extra if he needed a bedding. Abdulla Sheth had suggested that he
should book a bedding too. Gandhi chose to save this additional expense. The
Sheth found it necessary to advise him before his departure not to be overfrugal.
What worried him more than anything else was that the young Indian barrister
might find things in South Africa too hot to suit his temperament. Gandhi implored
him not to be anxious on his account.

It was about 9 p.m. when the train arrived at Maritzburg, the capital of
Natal, 73 miles from Durban. A railway employee enquired from Gandhi if he
needed a bedding, to which he replied that he had one with him. After a little
while, a white passenger came in and had a stern look at him. Apparently he
was disturbed to find a coloured co-passenger. He went back and returned
with a railway official who asked Gandhi to shift to a third-class compartment.
He protested that he had a first-class ticket.

That doesn't matter,' rejoined the official, 'I tell you, you move to the
van compartment.'

'But I was permitted to travel in this compartment at Durban, and I
would like to continue here,' said Gandhi.

'No, you won't,' said the official. 'You must leave this compartment, or
else I shall have to call a constable.'

'Yes, you may,' replied Gandhi. 'I refuse to get out voluntarily.'

He was determined not to go to another compartment. The constable
came, seized Gandhi by the arm and pushed him out. His luggage also was off¬
loaded, whereafter the train left. Sorely humiliated, Gandhi went to the lampless
waiting-room with his handbag, leaving the remaining luggage where it had been
thrown off. The railway staff had the good sense to take charge of it.

It was the month of June. Maritzburg, situated more than 6 degrees
south of the tropic of Capricorn and at an altitude of over 2,000 feet, could in
mid-winter be very chilly. With a strong blast blowing from the surrounding
hills at this hour, the place was icy cold. Gandhi's overcoat was in the suit¬
case; he did not want to go and ask for it, lest he should be put to

LEAD THOU ME ON

further insult. So he sat shivering through the night in the dark waiting-room.
Another passenger came in after some time. Seemingly, he wanted to enter
into a conversation with Gandhi. But the latter was in no mood to talk. He
was busy debating with himself in what direction lay his duty. If he gave
himself up to despair he would have to withdraw and go back home, breaking
the engagement with his employers. The other alternatives he had before him
were: to fulfil his undertaking and overlook the humiliations; or to seek redress
of the wrongs committed by the privileged whites while still going ahead with
his work. The last option was the one that ultimately appealed to him. He
could see that the indignity he had suffered was the symptom of a deep-
rooted malady. He felt an urge to make some effort to cure it and if necessary
suffer hardships in the bargain. By daybreak he had made up his mind to
accept the challenge and go forward.

In the morning Gandhi addressed a telegram to the railway chief
and another one to Abdulla Sheth. The latter got in touch with the concerned
railway official whose wishy-washy attitude did not inspire much
confidence. The Sheth had, however, wired to the Indian merchants at
important places en route to meet Gandhi and assist him. Some of them
at Maritzburg promptly came to the railway station. When he narrated to
them what had happened, they were not at all surprised. According to
them any Indian travelling first or second class was to be prepared for
trouble. Gandhi spent the day listening to their tales of woe. What
distressed him most was the fact that his countrymen had come to accept
their lot.

Gandhi resumed his journey by the evening train which had a
reserved first-class berth for him. This time he purchased a bedding ticket
also. The next morning he was at Chariestown. The coach agent there
had been informed by Abdulla Sheth about the change in Gandhi's
programme for his journey beyond the railhead. Even otherwise the ticket
remained valid despite his break of journey for a day at Maritzburg. All the
same, the agent did try to confound him by declaring that his reservation
for the road journey had been cancelled. During the argument that followed,
Gandhi could make out that the real problem was not want of
accommodation but outright refusal on the part of the Leader* to have a
coolie inside the coach with white passengers. After a good bit of heckling,
the conductor who usually sat alongside the coachman assigned his own
seat to the obstinate young Indian and himself sat inside. Gandhi could
see how wrong it was and humiliating too. He had, however, weighed in
his mind that if he insisted on his rightful seat, he would probably be left
behind which would mean another day lost with no certainty that on the
service the next morning he would fare any better. With a wry face, he
occupied the seat offered to him.

★

The coach conductor was designated as Leader.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

On arrival of the coach at Pardekop at about 3 p.m., the Leader decided
to get back to his seat. Maybe, he wanted to smoke or have some fresh air.
'Sami, you sit on this, I want to sit near the driver.' So he said, addressing
Gandhi, simultaneously taking a dirty piece of sack-cloth and spreading it on
the footboard. This was more than Gandhi could tolerate. He put his foot down
and asserted: 'It was you who seated me here, though I should have been
accommodated inside. I put up with the insult. Now that you want to sit outside
and smoke, you would have me sit at your feet. I will not do so, but I am
prepared to sit inside.'

The coach conductor could not believe that even a coolie would
have the temerity to talk in this fashion. Beside himself with anger, he
gave his victim a hard blow, seized him by the arm and would have dragged
him down. Gandhi who wanted neither to retaliate nor give in, managed,
somehow, to cling to the brass rails of the coach box. The passengers
could see what was happening — the conductor swearing at and belabouring
a defenceless person. One of them felt shocked at what was going on and
edged in: 'Man, let him alone. He is right. If he can't stay where he is, let
him come and sit with us.'

Put to shame by this intervention, the bully relented a little and let
Gandhi continue beside the coachman and secured for himself a seat on
the other side of the coach box. But he had not calmed down. When he
could not contain himself, he growled: Take care, just let me get to
Standerton and I'll show you what I can do.' Gandhi sat speechless, praying
to God for help.

Standerton was a small place on the Vaal river. The coach arrived
there well after sunset. Gandhi felt relieved to see some Indians who had
come to receive him on getting a telegram sent to them by Dada Abdulla.
They took him to Sheth Isa Haji's shop. Here too Gandhi listened to
distressing stories of experience, far more bitter than what he had gone
through. Anyhow, he reported to the local agent of the coach company
about the treatment meted out to him. Surprisingly, the response here
was immediate and positive: for his onward journey, Gandhi was assured
that he would have a seat with other passengers and the conductor against
whom he had complained would not be there.

Gandhi had no problem the next day on the journey from Standerton to
Johannesburg where the coach reached late in the evening. Finding no one to
assist him, he engaged a cab and went to the Grand National. The manager
looked at him for a moment. Very spontaneously he expressed regret, stated
that the hotel was full up and bade him goodbye. Instead of wasting any more
time, Gandhi proceeded to Mohammed Kasam Kamruddin's shop. Sheth Abdul
Gani had, in fact, been waiting for him there. When Gandhi talked to him of his
experience at the hotel, the Sheth laughed heartily and remarked that he should
not have expected anything better. He was frank enough to acknowledge that
people like him who had come to make money could not afford to be sensitive.
One telling remark he made was: This country is not for men like

LEAD THOU ME ON

you.'* Some other friends joined the conversation. The hardships that the Indians
suffered in South Africa made a heart-rending story. It was clear that conditions
in the Transvaal were much worse than in Natal. Gandhi was warned that the
following day he would have to travel to Pretoria third class because first or
second-class tickets were never issued to the Indians. His comment was that
they would not have fought for their right hard enough which was a fact.

Gandhi had made up his mind that he must travel first class, and if he
could not do so he would take a cab to Pretoria, a distance of only 37 miles.
He addressed a note to the Station Master making out a strong case for
issue of a first-class ticket for his journey. He had added that he was a
barrister and that he always travelled first class. He could foresee that if the
Station Master were to give him a formal reply he would certainly say 'no'. He,
therefore, concluded the note saying that, with no time for a written reply, he
would reach the station and expect to get his ticket.

He took special care to dress himself nicely. The moment he was at
the booking counter, the Station Master asked him: 'You sent me that note?'

That is so. I shall be much obliged if you will give me a ticket. I must
reach Pretoria today,' replied Gandhi.

The Station Master smiled and said: 'I'm not a Transvaaler. I am a
Hollander. I appreciate your feelings, and you have my sympathy. I do want
to give you a ticket — on one condition, however, that if the guard should ask
you to shift to the third class, you'll not involve me in the affair, by which I
mean that you should not proceed against the railway company. I wish you a
safe journey. I can see you are a gentleman.' Having said this, he issued the
ticket. Gandhi thanked him and gave him the assurance he had asked for.

Sheth Abdul Gani was at the station to see him off. He watched
everything with pleasant surprise. But he had his doubts as to whether the
guard or other passengers would leave him in peace. He remarked that he
would thank God if Gandhi reached Pretoria undisturbed.

Everything was fine until at Germiston the guard came to check the
tickets. He was upset on seeing an Indian in the first-class compartment.
Addressing Gandhi sternly, he asked him to go to a third-class coach. The
latter showed him his first-class ticket. The guard still insisted that he
should move out. There was just one English passenger in that compartment.
He intervened and questioned the guard: 'What do you mean by
troubling the gentleman? Don't you see he has a first-class ticket? I do not
mind in the least his travelling with me.' Turning to Gandhi, he said: 'You
please make yourself comfortable where you are.' The guard, feeling

* Erik H. Erikson sees in it Gandhi’s emerging sense of what he was not, what he would not
become, what he had to fight against in himself as well as in others. On reaching South
Africa, Gandhi had landed in the middle of his people's identity confusion - or rather in
the middle of the web of pretences which were supposed to be its solution, at least in
"adjusted" and moneyed circles.' Ref. Gandhi's Truth (London, 1970) p.165, and also
Robert Coles, Erik H. Erikson - The Growth of His Work (London, 1973), p.338.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

surprised at the passenger who had ticked him off in defence of a coolie, said
something sharp and went away.

***

The train reached Pretoria at about 8 p.m. The railway station, serving
the capital city, was at that time a very modest establishment. There was not
much traffic either. Gandhi had expected someone on behalf of Abdulla Sheth's
attorney to meet him. But he found no one there. The first thought that passed
his mind was about the difficulty he might face in finding a place where he
could put up. He was also chary about seeking the help of railway staff. After
all the passengers had cleared out, very cautiously he approached the Ticket
Collector, surrendered his ticket and enquired about the hotel he could go to.
Gandhi was surprised at the courteous attention he received from this official.
But he was not able to provide any useful guidance.

Luckily an American Black was standing close by. Feeling
concerned for the helpless stranger, he thought of an immigrant from USA,
well known to him, running a small hotel. He graciously offered to take
him there. Thankfully accepting the help, Gandhi proceeded with him to
Johnston's guest-house. He was accepted there for the night on condition
that he should have dinner in his room. Mr. Johnston himself had no colour
prejudice, but apprehended that if the gentleman came to the dining-room
his European guests might object. Having known the conditions prevailing,
Gandhi accepted the arrangement and went to the room allotted to him.
While he was waiting for his dinner to be served, Mr. Johnston himself
came there and said: 'I was ashamed of having asked you to take your
dinner here. So I spoke to the other guests about you, and asked them if
they would mind your having a meal in the dining-room. They said they
had no objection. Please, therefore, come to the dining-room, if you will,
and stay here as long as you wish.' Gandhi thanked Mr. Johnston, went to
the dining-room and had a hearty meal.

Next morning Gandhi called on A.W. Baker, Dada Abdulla's attorney
in Pretoria and found him warm and friendly. Baker lost no time in making it
clear to Gandhi that a very competent counsel had been engaged and there
was little to worry on that account. But the case being complex, it would be
necessary for various kinds of information to be sifted and made available.
Gandhi s function would be to liaise between Baker and his client.

Baker had intentionally not fixed up any accommodation for Gandhi.
He wanted to meet him and then plan for it. He recognized that there was a
'fearful amount of colour prejudice' and therefore it was not easy to find a
place for an Indian lodger like Gandhi. He thought of a poor, needy
woman, the wife of a baker, who should agree to take him as a guest. Both of
them went to her house. Baker took her aside and talked over the
matter. She agreed to accept Gandhi as a boarder for 35 shillings a week.

LEAD THOU ME ON

The same day he shifted his luggage to the place. The landlady was a pleasant
person and took a good deal of interest in cooking vegetarian food for him. In
no time he began to fee! like a member of the family.

***

Gandhi had been in South Africa for a very short period. Inside him
some hidden reserve of life force had been unlocked. The turban incident at
Durban and his dramatic departure from the court instead of timorous
submission to the magistrate's fiat had brought into open the man's inherent
tenacity. His earlier encounter with the Political Agent in Rajkot fresh in his
mind, he did not want a similar insult to be inflicted on him again. Yet, he had
the astuteness to carefully weigh the entire issue regarding the head-dress
he should adopt. In doing so he got acquainted with the complex structure of
the Indian community in Natal. The fact that he took the initiative to write to a
newspaper that had been particularly hostile made some of his countrymen
aware of the difference between quiet resignation to any untoward happening
in the normal course and swift practical response to a threat to one's honour
or well-being. The dominant whites had noted that an exceedingly troublesome
person was on the scene.

The fateful journey from Durban to Pretoria was for Gandhi the first lap of
a spiritual odyssey. The personal anguish he suffered was his share of the lot
of the hapless Indian settlers in South Africa. There was nothing new in what
he had gone through, but the way he had reacted to it was unknown before.
Something out of the ordinary had happened to him during the long, cold winter
night he spent in the Maritzburg railway waiting-room, having neither fire nor
light. He did not spend these hours nursing his injured feelings. He had thought
over the whole thing until he was able to see what he ought to do. No doubt, he
had his own self-respect to redeem. He realised at the same time that he could
play a role in salvaging the dignity of his compatriots in this distant land. If the
meaning of human life lies in striving for something outside one's personal
existence, Gandhi had had a glimpse of it and this cognition helped him
transcend the ordinary person's egocentric preoccupations. Consequently he
was to a large extent rid of his diffidence and the inferiority complex which had
for long smothered his personality. This was, in a way, one of the most creative
experiences of Gandhi's early life.

The rest of his journey exposed Gandhi to a variety of afflictions as
well as some pleasant surprises. It is noteworthy that even in the face of
the vilest of affronts, he had not failed to observe how nice a few of the
whites had been, for example, those who felt uneasy at brutality on the
part of the blustering conductor of the stage-coach and the overbearing
guard of the train from Johannesburg. Their interventions had no doubt
touched his heart. Mr. Johnston's kindliness in dealing with him when he
went to his guest-house had also not escaped his notice. On the whole,
there was enough evidence to sustain Gandhi's faith in humanity. Having seen

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

the cruelty and prejudice of some side by side with the unmistakable decency
of others, he had enough reason to hope that aberrations of the prevailing
order even in South Africa were remediable. All this fortified his newly-aroused
urge to combine public work with his struggle for livelihood — a combination
which was to provide a new sense of direction for his future life. In its totality,
what he had gained was something which he could have described as 'a
lantern unto my feet: and a light unto my paths.' The transformation of this
new stream of consciousness into an operative course of action was, however,
to be a long and slow process.

THE COLONIAL SEQUENCE

South Africa where Gandhi found himself planted towards the middle
of 1 893 had a unique colonial landscape. The story of European penetration
into the subcontinent began in 1 652 when the Dutch East India Company set
up a regular outpost in the Cape of Good Hope, though earlier too, ships had
been coming to this natural harbour for replenishment of provisions. A class
of native intermediaries had grown up and they provided a channel of trade
with herdsmen from the interior. Even after the Dutch Company had established
an enclave, it was reluctant to allow regular colonization.. Nevertheless, the
small confine in the Cape slowly grew into an extended settlement.

'Before long, some employees of the Company and stray immigrants
started rearing of herd cattle and cultivation of land to meet the essential
needs of European settlers and supplement the supplies for passing ships.
With the Khoisan* inhabitants of the area initially reluctant to give up their
independent life and seek employment, the settlers in order to overcome the
shortage of labour resorted to the importation of slaves mostly from East
Africa and Madagascar. From the economic standpoint this was the simplest
answer to the settlers' clamour for servile manual help. The Company had
become so dependent on cattle trade that the directors could not have liked
it to be dislocated for any reason. They did not, therefore, countenance the
enslavement of any section of the local population which, having not
experienced this evil in the past, might have reacted to it in a manner
detrimental to smooth commercial dealings.

In course of time, the Dutch expansion had the effect of undermining
the loosely organized social structure of the Khoisan. The Khoikhoi, essentially
very simpte folk, trading with enterprising aliens, shrewd and artful, could not
be the gainers. The consequent impoverishment apart, they also became
vulnerable to the epidemics brought by the Europeans. The latter, on the
other hand, thrived in the temperate climate of the Cape.

The process of white expansion, which was slow in the 1 7th century,
gradually grew more rapid. It was partly the result of natural increase. There
was some immigration too. The Dutchmen imbued with stern Calvinistic
articles of faith were joined by some French Huguenots who shared

* This term is a compound name for the two aboriginal South African peoples known as
Hottentots ( Khoikhoi ) and Bushmen (San) — the former largely pastoralists and the latter
hunters and gatherers.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

their beliefs. With increasing white population, the number of slaves also
multiplied. Many amongst the latter and other non-whites were slowly coming
into the Christian fold. In the early stages, European females in the settlement
being scarce, there was no taboo on the whites marrying the Hottentot women
or even those belonging to the freed slave families. The resultant mixed
population came to be known as the Cape coloureds. Some of them were, no
doubt, born out of illicit relationships. In any case, there was very little of
racial prejudice at this time. The distinction in the Colony was 'not between
White and Black but between Pagan and Christian, and no Christian could
be held in slavery.' Baptism conferred on the non-whites legal and, to a
considerable extent, social equality with the Dutch settlers. But these
conditions did not last very long and gradually mixing between Europeans
and others began to be frowned upon.*

The Dutch Company was all the time discouraging the settlers from
spreading beyond the areas in the neighbourhood of Cape Town. In actual
practice, it was impossible to hold them back. It did not take too long for the
colonists to move beyond their coastal base. If the area was not fertile and
the rainfall adequate, they compensated themselves by occupation of vast
tracts of land. The comparatively poor among newcomers and the younger
sons of those having large holdings in the settled districts who did not inherit
the farmlands had, of necessity, to expand towards the North. The pastoral
way of life adopted by them was not far different from that of the Hottentots.
Practically beyond the reach of administrative control, the trekboers,** as
these cattle-farmers were called, grew into independent, virile and self-reliant
path-finders. They were getting increasingly conscious of a new identity as
Afrikaners with certain peculiar traits of their own — tenacity of purpose,
capacity for silent endurance and an extraordinary sense of self-esteem.
Their prolonged severance from the mainstream of European culture was
tending to sink into their character, causing their imagination to wilt and their
mental horizon to narrow down. Their tenacity often degenerated into obstinacy,
their power of endurance into recklessness and their self-esteem into contempt
for others.

While the Dutch settlers were slowly moving northward, another migra¬
tion of greater magnitude was already taking place north to south. This was the

The change took place when a good number of the fresh immigrants from Europe came
in with their families. The economic factor also appears to have had something to do with
this social phenomenon. With the Khoikhoi getting conscious of the white farmers taking
perma-nent possession of lands which had been under the occupation of native tribes,
display of a certain degree of resistance by some of them was inevitable. This in turn
prompted the colonists to strengthen their security and on occasion exhibit their authority.
One simple method of asserting superiority was that of maintaining a certain distance
from the non-whites. Thus a new social norm was created and it strengthened the
nascent Afrikaner identity.

Farmers on the frontiers of settlement. The prefix 'trek' implies the nomadic nature of
life. The word 'boer" means farmer. Gradually the term 'Boers' came to be used for Dutch
colonists in South Africa engaged in agriculture and cattle-breeding.

THE COLONIAL SEQUENCE

steady stream of Bantu-speaking people who, displaced from their homelands
near the highlands of East Africa by the depredations of slave hunters, had
moved out in search of new lands. This mass migration and its criss-cross
currents gave birth to a number of South African sub-nationalities, all having
close ethnic, linguistic and cultural ties. The later history of the subcontinent
to a large degree revolved around the subjugation of these polities by European
immigrants.

***

The Khoisan had reacted to intrusion of the whites in various ways. The
San hunters put up a stiff resistance to the trekboers encroaching upon their
traditional habitat. In certain areas the San raids forced the settlers to abandon
their farms. The San, too, had to give up some of their hunting lands. The
conflict between the trekboers and the San became so intense after 1 71 5 that
large sections of the latter had to face almost total extermination. The weak
amongst the Khoikhoi slowly came to accept an inferior social status and
began to work as farm servants and herdsmen. Those who had enough power
of resistance strongly opposed the white man's domination. At times this
opposition erupted into guerrilla warfare. In the last quarter of the 1 8th century,
the entire northern frontier of the Colony was in a state of constant tension and
recurrent hostility, raids and counter-attacks having become a common
phenomenon. Though the Khoikhoi were ultimately vanquished, they were able
to slow down the colonial expansion. Those amongst them who were pushed
northward, settled along the Orange river. Others who escaped towards the
East merged into the Xhosa* folk who had blocked the white dispersion on that
flank that proved far more troublesome to the colonial administration. Minor
cattle raids and the diminutive guerrilla incursions or territorial skirmishes of
the earlier phase had escalated into frontier wars. The third one in the series
took place between 1 799 and 1802 when conflict with the Xhosa in the East
coincided with an uprising by the Khoikhoi in the North. About this time the
Cape passed into the hands of Britain, eager to guard its vita! sea route to
India. With the appearance of regular British troops there, the balance tilted
more definitely in favour of the white colonists.

The British administrators, like the earlier Dutch bureaucracy in
the Cape, did not have a clear understanding of the frontier problem. Their
effort was to avert recurring conflict by keeping the white settlers farthest
away from the African tribes and drive back the latter. What they failed to
comprehend was the existence of a close economic interaction between
them alongside the continuing unrest exploding into armed action from time
to time. The situation was further complicated because of a major social
upheaval caused in the subcontinent by the highly organized campaigns

* One of the major Bantu tribes which had moved down south and had spread out on both
sides of the Fish river.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

launched by Shaka, a dynamic tribal chieftain, who became the ruler of
Zululand in 1 81 6. In his own way he was a military genius and within a short
period he had built up a powerful war apparatus to subjugate the neighbouring
territories. Aware of the fact that if he tried to move further down towards the
Cape, he would have to confront a formidable adversary, Shaka kept the well-
nigh depopulated Natal as a buffer zone. Anyhow, in this turmoil, refugees
from the principalities under attack moved out to adjoining regions. Those
who went southward spread themselves mainly over the area to the East of
Cape colony. These displaced people, reduced to paupers with their social
structures badly disrupted by prolonged warfare, became known as Mfengu*
(or Fingos). Their appearance on the scene, added to the tensions within the
Xhosa society, caused a major change in the situation.

During some of the frontier combats the Mfengu helped the British and
were in turn rewarded by the grant of Xhosa lands and cattle. Ultimately the
Xhosa resistance broke down. A large section of the people were wiped out
either in fighting or by starvation. Among the survivors, very many were so
demoralised that they moved westward across the frontier to seek whatever
employment they could get. The Boers, however, were all the time weighed
down by their common belief that they were not getting enough help from the
Cape Government.

***

The socio-political problem within the European community was even
more complex than the frontier question. The bulk of the white settlers
consisted of Dutch Boers who, separated from the British by barriers of
nationality and language, strongly felt that they had been condemned to
subservience to an authority that did not understand their problems. They
could not but resent the imposition of English by the new rulers.

Accustomed to regard the coloured servants or neighbours as
their inferiors and therefore meant to be used more or less as slaves,
the Boers were unable to adjust themselves to a different social ethic
that the British sought to implant after the colony came under their
occupation. This change was in some measure related to the influx
of missionaries from Britian. They had produced an awareness of a
more humanitarian social philosophy, though their principal aim was
to convert the African communities to Christianity rapidly. The first
large lot of converts in the Cape was drawn from the Khoikhoi and
mixed groups along the Orange river. In the eastern regions, the Mfengu
refugees under the impact of mission activity adopted the Christian
faith and developed into prosperous peasant cultivators. Guided
by their example, a large number of the Xhosa also turned to
Christianity. Alongside the propagation of their faith, the missionaries did
not hesitate to denounce unfair discrimination against the native population.
They wanted the Government to follow a policy that would strengthen

A term derived from a verb meaning to beg for food.

THE COLONIAL SEQUENCE

their drive to win over people and spread the Christian gospel among them.
The British Colonial Office too, under the influence of missionaries, was
inclined to look at many of the problems from this standpoint.

The perennial shortage of labour in the settled areas, having regard to the
actual requirements, should have induced the colonists to be a little liberal towards
their non-white employees. The Cape economy, apart from very limited
development of agriculture in the south-west, largely revolved around cattle and
sheep-farming for the growth of which it needed successive increments of
manpower. It is difficult to understand why even then the labour force in the
Colony was subject to exploitation and oppression to an extent that would have
necessarily kept the number of job-seekers low. The labourers were poorly paid
and were subjected to rough treatment. They did not have freedom of movement:
they were required to carry a pass, signed both by the master and the local
official, if they wished to leave their registered place of abode. An ordinance,
passed in 1 828, which sought to relieve the coloured servants of this restriction,
caused a commotion among all the whites, more so among the Boers. Five
years later, came an Act of Parliament according to which, after the prescribed
period of apprenticeship, all slaves in the British Empire were to be emancipated.
Although provision was also made to compensate owners of the slaves for the
loss they were to suffer on this account, a large section of white settlers in the
Cape looked at the whole thing as a great disaster. What hurt them all the more
was that the payment of compensation was, according to their reckoning, less
than half of their entitlement. The frontier farmers, already indignant at various
forms of interference from the Cape Town Government, had taken a more serious
view of this change.

The proverbial last straw was the Colonial Secretary's refusal to allow
annexation of the Xhosa territory after the tribe was beaten decisively in the 1 834
frontier conflict. Towards the end of 1835, a few thousand Boers, in a rebellious
mood but lacking the wherewithal to fight the administration, organized themselves
into small groups and left the Colony with a deep sense of grievance against the
Government, which they felt would not let them live in peace and provide them
adequate protection against incursions by the African communities.

The Great Trek,* as this migration of the Boer farmers came to be
called, gradually gathered momentum. The Voortrekkers (the term used for these
migrants) who left the Cape with their families, their cattle and other
belongings, moved northward. Crossing the Orange river,** they occupied the

* Ken Jordan has tried to explode the idea of 19th century British liberalism as the main
cause of this wave of Boer migration. According to him, the British land speculators,
anxious to grab large farms cheaply and put them to profitable use for sheep-rearing,
were circulating all kinds of rumours among the Boer farmers to scare them into making
distress sales: for instance, that the Roman Catholic religion was on its way to the Cape;
that the Boers were going to be conscripted into the British navy. All this fitted into the
British imperial device to use Boers to open up the interior. Ref. his paper on Iberian and
Anglo-Saxon racism, Race and Class (London 1979), Vol. XX, No 4, pp. 401-3.

** By 1837 about 5,000 Voortrekkers had crossed the Orange river; by 1845 their number
had gone up to about 14,000.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

region that later became known as the Orange Free State. A sizeable section
of the Voortrekkers moved further north across the Vaal and established
themselves in the region that was named as the T ransvaal. The blacks who
could possibly have opposed them were handicapped because of their low-
grade weaponry. While the trade in firearms with the native chieftains was
forbidden, it was freely allowed to white Afrikaners. Anyhow, the tribes
vanquished by the trekkers decided to move beyond the Limpopo, leaving the
latter as a dominant power on the western Highveld.

One of the ablest Boer leaders Piet Retief, who had played an
important part in the fight against Xhosa raiders in 1 834-35, while leaving
the Cape in 1837, had stated in a manifesto: 'We solemnly declare that
we are leaving this Colony with the desire to lead a more peaceful life
than we have had until now. We shall molest no people and deprive
nobody of the least property. We are leaving ... with the complete
assurance that the English Government has no further claim on us and
will allow us... to manage our affairs in future.' What happened was very
different from what was professed or hoped. The section of trekkers led
by Piet Retief, eager to go into more fertile area and secure an outlet to
the sea, was adventurous enough to cross the Drakensburg mountains.
They had to confront the Zulus who were in occupation of the northern
part of the present-day Natal. There were many ups and downs in which
Retief himself lost his life. At last the help received by the Boers on
arrival of another stream of trekkers, equipped with superior arms, enabled
them to overpower the Zulus and put in place a ruler subservient to
them. They could now spread themselves out in Natal and occupy large
tracts of land of their choice. In the centre of the area seized by them,
Pietermartizburg named after Piet Retief and Gert Maritz, another Boer
leader, the seat of government was established .

Britain naturally felt disturbed by these evelopments. Technically,
the Boers were still subjects of the British crown, but they were
not prepared to accept its authority in any form. Aggressive and
overbearing, wherever they reached they made unwarranted
encroachments, thus stirring up waves of unrest among the native
communities. The Cape administration had to do something about what
had happened in Natal. A small British force had been stationed there in
1838. In 1845, Britain, prompted by the Cape Government, declared
the annexation of this territory to further protect its sea-route to India
and to prevent social turmoil among Africans in this part of the
subcontinent which would have been caused by the trekker land and
labour policies. Most of the Voortrekkers, who had reached there and
were now unwilling to submit themselves to British rule, found it expedient
to recross the Drakansberg to get back to the Highveld. Natal, at this stage,

THE COLONIAL SEQUENCE

attracted a large massof African refugees who flocked to the region,
comparatively more peaceful than the adjoining areas. Between 1848 and
1 851 , a few thousand British immigrants also came to this Colony and they
constituted the core of white settlers in Natal, which remained a dependency
of the Cape up to 1 856.

The British wanted to avoid any more outright annexations in South
Africa. To have a barrier between the colonies under their own control and
the territories occupied by the Boers they had created a ring of protected
native states. This political arrangement, however, did not work smoothly.
In certain areas there was serious trouble between the Boers and the native
communities. Ultimately a stage came when the Governor of the Cape, eager
to control the Colony's turbulent frontiers, found it necessary to depart from
the policy of minimum intervention. The result was annexation of the territory
between the Orange and the Vaal (Orange Free State) in 1 848. The resistance
that the Boers could offer remained feeble. A large section of the farmers in
the region willingly accepted British rule. Those who could not reconcile
themselves to it went across the Vaal. The Transvaal, left to itself, was still
not a unified state.

The British Government did not like to follow the trekkers into the vast
interior that promised no tangible gain but would have involved considerable
expense. There was a widely held view in Britain that the Boers had a moral
right to political freedom if they desired it. In 1852 the independence of the
Transvaal was formally recognized under the Sand River Convention. Two
years later, the British withdrew from Transorangia and the Orange Free State
was also accepted as an independent republic under the Bloemfontein
Convention. Despite these developments, the memories of bitterness severing
the Boer republics from the crown colonies could not be obliterated.

One factor that guided the thinking of the Orange Free State Boers
was the state of conflict with Basutoland, their neighbour on the eastern
flank. When the latter was decisively defeated in 1865, the Free State would
have annexed the whole of this territory but for the Cape Government's
intervention that resulted in a treaty admitting a reduced Basutoland, as a
British protectorate. The net gain to the Orange Free State was acquisition of
a fairly large tract of fertile land. The Free Staters still had reason to feel that
they had not fully reaped the fruits of victory.

Soon the Orange Free State was to have another grievance. In 1 867,
diamonds were found in an area on the western border of the republic
where Kimberley is now situated. In this region (the Western Griqualand)
no precise delimitation of the borders had been carried out and there was
a complex ownership dispute between the Free State, the Transvaal, the
native chief of the neighbouring state and certain other interests about the
territory now prized for its mineral wealth. While the Orange Free State
was trying to set up an administrative apparatus in the area, the Griqua

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

chief found it expedient to opt for British sovereignty. The Cape Government,
taking advantage of the situation, went on to annex Griqualand
West. The Free State vehemently protested against this action; all it got
was a sum of £90,000 as compensation. The whole affair left the republic
deeply aggrieved.

***

As far as the Transvaal region was concerned, unlike the Orange Free
State, it could not for many years evolve a viable central authority due to inability
on the part of different leaders to pull together. Nevertheless, the bulk of
Transvaalers had accepted, in February 1858, the constitution drawn up in
1855 and modified as a result of amendments made during the intervening
period. In the early sixties, however, there was a 4-year-long civil war at the end
of which Martin Pretorius* as President and Paul Kruger as military commandant,
undertook the task of creating an integrated state. Even after 1 864 when the
different units merged to form the South African Republic, the sense of national
unity remained weak for a long time.

Constantly involved in armed encounters with the neighbouring native
chiefdoms and tribes, the Transvaalers had become a menace to the stability
of the entire subcontinent. With the Disraeli Government assuming office in
1874, Britain's South Africa policy went through a major change and the
evolvementof a federal set-up became its principal constituent. It was believed
that, as long as the Transvaal conducted its affairs in the style it had adopted,
it was impossible to realise the federation ideal.

Earlier, Sir George Grey** had in the late fifties strongly advocated the idea
of a South African federation on the ground that divisions between the white
communities, each too weak to have a sound administrative apparatus and provide
for an adequate security system to deal with the African chiefs, were bound to
result in perpetual turmoil that could be avoided if there was a single federal state.
His thinking was guided by an anxiety to head off somehow a union between the
Free State and the Boers across the Vaal that otherwise could not be ruled out.
The British Government then, just did not want to get entangled with affairs from
which it could keep itself free. Disraeli's Colonial Secretary, Lord Carnarvan, now
held that federation was the only solution to the South African problem.

When trouble arose between the Transvaal and Zuiuland because
of expansionist tendencies on the one side and refusal to allow infringement
of frontiers on the other, it was felt that the outbreak of war between the
two would set in motion a convulsion which may be difficult to hold in.
This was a good excuse for taking the republic under British control. Sir
Theophilus Shepstone, the Secretary of Native Affairs in Natal, determinedly

The Transvaal President from 1864 to 1871. Paul Kruger was later elected President in
1883 and held this office for 18 years.

** Governor of the Cape from 1 854 to 1 861 .

THE COLONIAL SEQUENCE

carried through the annexation of the Transvaal in April 1877 and
declared that the Colony would soon be given self-governing powers. It
was a step towards the establishment of a federal system. It was also an
indirect warning to the ruier of Zululand that if he attacked the T ransvaal he
would have to fight against the British.

The Transvaal could not have reconciled itself to British rule. Particularly
the farmers resented the new Government's harshness in the collection of
taxes. When the Gladstone ministry came to power in 1 880, the T ransvaalers
expected that their independence would be restored. When this hope did not
materialize, they rose in revolt. Before the British forces could be moved in
and brought into action, the Boers achieved a sensational victory in the battle
of Majuba (1 881 ). if Britain had the will to put down the rebellion, there was no
lack of means to do so. Gladstone, however, did not like to forcibly impose
British rule on this region. A few months after Majuba, a negotiated settlement
was reached under the Pretoria Convention whereby the Transvaal Boers
were granted autonomy, subject to Britain's suzerainty, with a proviso that
their foreign affairs would be controlled by the British Government. The terms
of settlement were further liberalized under the Convention of London (1 884)
which left Britain's suzerainty rather tenuous. The T ransvaal was again styled
as the South African Republic. The possibility of having a federated South
Africa had become all the more remote.

In the meantime Paul Kruger was elected as the Transvaal's President.
As a young boy, he was among the earliest of the Boer trekkers. As he grew
up, he participated in many of the fierce battles fought by the Voortrekkers
with their adversaries. During the Civil War of 1 861 -64, he played a prominent
part in rallying the people in support of a unified constitutional authority. He
also had a leading role in the Transvaalers' revolt of 1 880-81 . He displayed
considerable diplomatic skill in negotiating the terms of settlement with the
British representatives in August 1881 and again in February 1884.

The Transvaal Boers, driven by an insatiable hunger for territory, were
still restless. They started off raids on all sides in violation of the boundaries
defined by the Convention of London. They occupied an area forming part of
Zululand and founded the New Republic, which Britain chose to recognize. It
was incorporated into the Transvaal in 1 888. The Boers gradually subjugated
Swaziland also. When they entered Bechuanaland on the West, the British
Government intervened and declared it as its own protectorate.

Within the Transvaal itself, the Africans who had in Cape Colony,
on paper at least, some political rights, were denied all claims to citizenship
by an express provision in the constitution.* As much of the available land
was apportioned amongst the white settlers, the native population had

★

The well-known Article 9 provided: the people are not prepared to allow any equality of
the non-white with the white inhabitants, either in Church or State.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

little scope for extending their farming activity. Administration over them
was left in the hands of chiefs and headmen who were required to
provide labour for European farmers. This labour tax, which meant supply
of labour at low wages, further impoverished the Africans. Often, force
was used to secure more labour. Sporadic plunder and occasional savagery
indulged in by the well-armed Boers on one pretext or the other served to
remind tribesmen of the white man's fire power.

A more complex situation arose with the discovery of gold-fields in the
Witwatersrand area which attracted thousands of diggers followed by traders
and professional people. Within a few years Johannesburg, about 40 miles
south of Pretoria, the tiny capital town, became an important urban centre.
With only 3,000 inhabitants in 1887, its population was 25,000 in 1890 and
was continuing to grow at a phenomenal pace. The flood of uitlanders
(outlanders or foreigners) and establishment of a large Cosmopolitan, mainly
English, community in the midst of a rural Boer society was, in the eyes of
President Kruger, a threat to a separate national identity of his people. The
positive side of the changing scene was the remarkable improvement in the
economy of the South African Republic. Kruger was more concerned about
the Dutch farmers being swamped by the newcomers and the country getting
anglicized. This, he felt, could be prevented only by denying political rights to
the new immigrants. It was with this aim that he restricted the exercise of
franchise to only those settlers who had resided in the T ransvaal for at least
fourteen years, with twelve years as naturalized subjects under an oath of
allegiance. They were not allowed even municipal self-government in
Johannesburg, the city of their own creation. The uitlanders naturally felt
restive. The English mining magnates had their own reasons to be dissatisfied
with Kruger's economic policies. Cecil Rhodes, at the helm of Government in
the Cape, who himself had extensive gold interests and had created a vast
consortium under his control, lent support to the uitlanders ' movement against
Kruger's regime. The campaign was spearheaded by the T ransvaal National
Union, formed in 1892 by Charles Leonard. Petitions, mass meetings and
secret manoeuvres had become common elements of civic life in the republic.
President Kruger, however, remained firm. His attitude was: this was his
country; it had its own laws; those who did not like to obey them could go
elsewhere.

***

In the British colonies, the Cape and Natal, the problems were different
from those in the Boer republics. The Cape, of course, had a more
heterogeneous society. Its white population in the latter half of the nineteenth
century was growing at a rapid rate. Despite what had happened in the
earlier period, the relations between the Dutch and the British in this Colony
were generally amicable. Dutch racial feeling was, however, slowly getting

THE COLONIAL SEQUENCE

aroused in the Cape because of happenings in the Transvaal. It
found expression in the establishment of an organization, known as the
Afrikander Bond, in 1 882. However, with Cecil Rhodes becoming a dominant
figure in Cape politics, tho antagonism between the white communities
remained in control. When he became the Prime Minister in 1890, he took
special care to enlist the cooperation of J.H. Hofmeyr, the most prominent
leader of the Bond, and spared no effort to cultivate friendly relations between
the Dutch and the English.

The Africans in the Cape were not as oppressed as elsewhere. This
colony had the distinction of acquiring democratic institutions in the early fifties.
In 1872 it got full responsible government. A striking feature of the political
change introduced in two stages was grant of equal voting rights to the blacks
and whites on the basis of the prescribed franchise qualification. After the
incorporation of certain African territories in later years, there too the franchise
was extended to eligible Africans. The participation in self-government, allowed
to the coloured population, contributed to the promotion of some degree of
racial harmony. If Sir George Grey's plan for a federal set-up, as mooted in
1 858, had found acceptance, the Cape tradition would have possibly extended
to the other units and led to a different course of South African history. But, as
it happened, with the passage of time the Cape's own liberal tradition became
weak. In 1887 and again in 1892, the qualifications for franchise were modified
in order to restrict the number of African and other coloured voters.

While the Cape had attained self-government early enough, Natal
remained until 1893 a crown colony, administered by a Lieutenant-Governor
assisted by a council, partly nominated and partly elected. The main factor
that slowed down political change in Natal was the small number of white
settlers. In 1 852 their number was less than 8,000 out of a total population
of 1 72,000. The bulk of the population consisted of Bantu-speaking people
who were left under the control of their own tribal chiefs in the reserved
areas set apart for them. They managed their affairs under the customary
law in vogue among the tribes. The architect of this policy, Sir Theophilus
Shepstone, had created eight reserves covering an area of 2.25 million
acres, to contain the reflux of Africans to their homelands that they had left
during the period of turmoil.

The Government of Natal had to be careful in its relations with
Zululand, its immediate neighbour in the North. The latter, no doubt, valued
British goodwill, to be able to deal with encroachments by the Transvaal
Boers on its western flank. With King Cetshwayo coming into power in
Zululand, the British noticed a determined effort on his part to revive Shaka's
military tradition. When the Transvaal was taken under British protection
in 1 877, Cetshwayo felt that he had been deprived of a prize that could be
his. In response to his manoeuvres that threatened the safety of South
Africa, the British mounted pressure on him that ultimately led to the
outbreak of Zulu war in 1879. In the confrontation of numbers and courage
against organization and guns, the latter combination proved more potent

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

and the British gained a decisive victory at Ulundi. They deposed
Cetshwayo, but later restored him to power after making some territorial
adjustments. Although there were adequate checks on his authority, the
arrangement was not free from trouble. Those at the helm of affairs in Natal
were keen on outright annexation. The Home Government, however, was not
agreeable. Subsequently, when the British felt perturbed by Kruger's
expansionist policy they went on to annex Zululand in 1 887, ostensibly as a
means of preventing further aggression by the Transvaal. Treated as a crown
colony, it was administered by the Lieutenant-Governor of Natal on Her
Majesty's behalf.

Even after Natal had been under British occupation for some years, its
economic viability was still in question. The early attempts made to grow
cotton and coffee had not been successful. It was only when the sugar industry
was established that the key to Natal's economic future was
found. If cultivation of sugarcane was to flourish, a solution had to be
sought to the problem of agricultural labour required for this purpose. A good
number of the blacks in Natal at this time had been engaged as
small tenants on the huge tracts of land occupied by the British immigrants.
Some of them were otherwise employed for manual work by the white settlers.
The rest of them, including those flooding back into Natal with the return of
peace, had been absorbed by the spacious native reserves where they had
resumed their traditional subsistence agriculture, in a tribal setting. They
preferred it to working as wage labourers with all its drudgery to which they
were not habituated. Thus there was no discernible section of Africans in the
colony from which the coastal planters could draw their much-needed supply
of farm hands. Their first reaction was to agitate against the system of
locations which, according to them, had created this, problem. When it
became dear that there was no prospect of a change in the official policy,
they started thinking in terms of an external source of labour. That is how it
became necessary for the Government of Natal to turn to India to meet this
important requirement.

THE COMING OF INDIANS

Even after slavery was abolished over the British Empire, those who
had thrived on it were eager to devise an alternative arrangement to obtain
cheap and efficient labour for plantation farming. Some fertile mind, familiar
with the flow of white contract labour from Europe during the early phase of
colonization in North America, found an easy answer to this problem in the
system of indentured labour for recruitment of which India, because of its
imperial link, became an important source. The Indians' skill and hard work
had brought prosperity to countries like Mauritius and the West Indies. No
wonder, when Natal was in need of plantation labour for growing sugarcane, it
looked up to the Government of India for help. All the formalities
were gone through by September 1 860 and within five months as many ships
carrying 1,029 men and 359 women along with some children had left for
Durban. The competition by other colonies for recruitment of labour was so
tough that for some time Natal was not able to obtain its full requirement.

The indentured workman going there was entitled, besides his keep,
to a wage which starting with ten shillings a month for the first year rose to
twelve shillings a month in the third. After three years he was required to
enter into a fresh contract with the same or another employer for the fourth
year, or two additional years if he chose to do so. In 1 864 the basic period
of indenture itself was enhanced from three years to five. On completion of
five years, the labourer was at liberty to seek employment in the open
market. After a further period of five years, he became eligible for free return
passage to India or in lieu thereof a grant of crown land of equivalent value.*
There was nothing in the legislation whereby the immigrant could be forced
to return to India.

At first the indentured labour was sent to Natal largely from the
Bengal Presidency. South India was soon the leading source of supply.
Whatever the region they belonged to, the majority of emigrants were
lower caste Hindus. Among the caste Hindus, the largest group was that
of Vaishyas. The Muslims and Christians were about twelve and five percent
respectively. All these people, with their improvidence as one common
factor, were out to make South Africa their new home. But from the very
start, the majority of employers in the plantations did not deal with them in a

Approximately £ 10

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

manner that could have led to smooth master-servant relations. The misery
and despair because of which these migrants left their homeland could not
have failed to make them exceedingly docile. The only problem that should
have bothered the planters was that of occasional absence from duty by the
workers for one reason or the other. The penalty prescribed for such default in
the statute was rather harsh: forfeiture of two days' wage for one day's work
missed. The way this system worked was atrocious. In numerous cases the
labourers had little or no wages to receive at the end of a month. On some
estates, the masters were so inconsiderate that when fines for sickness,
etc., imposed by them exceeded the salary due for the month, they would
carry forward the balance for deduction from the next month's pay. The
Immigration Agent found it necessary in November 1 965 to tell the Colonial
Secretary of Natal that unless some measures were adopted to stop this
practice the employers might manage in such a way that they had little or
nothing to pay to the Indian coolies.

Despite the new legislation in 1870, that was meant to bring relief to
the immigrants, the planters continued to impose unwarranted punishments.
The officials charged with the duty to visit the plantations and keep a watch
seldom attended to it seriously. Even if some of them were inclined to be
conscientious, they could do little against the politically powerful proprietors,
'who treated their Indian employees at best unfairly and at worst cruelly.'

Of the first group of approximately 1 ,400 immigrants who, on completion
often years in Natal between November 1 870 and March 1871, became entitled
to free passage, about 400 chose to return to India. On getting back home,
narrating their bitter experience in South Africa, they talked of unsatisfactory
medical attention, illegal fines, floggings and withholding of wages as well as
rations. With magistrates generally biased against them, the aggrieved persons
had no means to seek redress. If any of them went to the court, they had to
keep in mind the retaliation they were to face on their return. During the
depression in the late sixties, a large proportion of workers on the plantations
that went bankrupt had been left unpaid and without food. In May 1968 there
were 260 Indians, with unexpired indentures, subsisting on Government doles.
When they were ultimately re-employed on revival of Natal's economy, they did
not receive any compensation for the period they had been out of work.

The emigration of Indian labour to Natal had been at a halt since
1866. The accusations made by the labourers on return, put the Indian
Government on the alert and it refused to resume emigration to Natal until
the colonial authorities became alive to th eir duty towards the labourers
and took adequate measures to ensure full protection to them. The Natal
Government came under heavy pressure from Whitehall on this issue. In
the Colony itself a large section of the whites did not share the sugarcane-
planters' enthusiasm for indentured labour from India. There was widespread
opposition to the idea of Government subsidy* for such immigration.

The Government had met more than one-third of the expenditure incurred on Indian

immigration.

THE COMING OF INDIANS

The sugar lobby, however, was too conscious of the important role this
labour had played in making the cultivation of sugarcane a paying proposition.
With a new era of prosperity in sight, at a time when Natal was threatened
by a serious labour crisis, it could not let grass grow under its feet. It
brought all its influence to bear on the Government to get things on the
move. The result was appointment of a commission in 1872 to study the
problem. The principal recommendations of the commission related to
abolition of flogging as a punishment, provision of improved medical care
and creation of a senior post of Protector of Indian Immigrants. After these
recommendations were implemented, the indentured Indian immigration
was resumed in 1 874. Within a year about 6,000 labourers arrived in Durban.
Although Natal's recruitment set-up in India was at times unequal to the
task assigned to it, the number of Indians in the Colony steadily increased.
Even while the Government of Natal had come to attach some importance
to the protection of indentured immigrants, there was no fundamental change
in the situation on ground. Subjection to humiliations and various forms of
cruelty remained normal features of the indentured labourers' life in the
Colony. The Protector himself was charged in 1876 for having killed an
Indian worker.*

In the heart of their hearts, the sugarcane-planters were aware of the
debt they owed to the indentured labourers who were by nature industrious
and prepared to work day and night. Yet they seldom treated these poor
people with kindness. The upcountry farmers who had the advantage of African
farm hands or rent-payers working for them and could do without the Indian
indentured labour were dead-set against further immigration or continued
stay of these workers in the Colony on expiry of their contract period. The
Natal Witness, the newspaper that represented their viewpoint, had commented
about the Indian labourer:

He is introduced for the same reason as mules might be introduced
from Monte Video, oxen from Madagascar or sugar machinery from
Glasgow. The object for which he is brought is to supply labour and
that alone. He is not one of us, he is in every respect an alien; he
only comes to perform a certain amount of work, and return to India.

Most of the Indians who had come to Natal wanted to make the best
of a bad bargain. They knew that they had little to gain by going back to their
homeland. Having got used to a life of secure subsistence, many of them, on
expiry of their term of indenture, continued to work on the same or other
sugarcane plantations.** The few among them who were enterprising, on

* Robert A. Huttenback. Gandhi in South Africa (London, 1971), pp. 14-15.

** They could easily find employment as ordinary field hands at wages varying from 16 to 25
shillings per month with rations. For skilled and supervisory work the monthly wage ranged
from £ 3 to 7.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

getting free, engaged themselves in a variety of skilled jobs. They worked as
tailors, washermen, bakers, blacksmiths, carpenters, etc. Some of them
were first-class cooks, earning handsome wages. Afew ex-indentured Indians
had set up small shops. Those who had undertaken farming on the plots of
land allotted to them, on completion of ten years' stay in Natal, produced
several much-needed crops, including vegetables for the market. While these
people were able to make a living, the colonists got access to goods and
services that could not otherwise be available. By the mid-seventies there
were over 5,000 time-expired Indians in Natal.

If a large number of Indians, on expiry of the ten-year period, chose to
settle down in Natal, it was economically advantageous for its white population.
The advantage would have been greater, if the second-generation Indians had
received proper education. Even after a law aimed at promotion of education
among the Indian immigrants' children was passed, the Natal Government
failed to do anything substantial. In 1885, there were 22 schools for them
dependent on Government grants and they received less than an aggregate
of £1 ,500 per annum. Although the number of students was increasing, the
total amount sanctioned for Indian education was more or less static. Naturally,
the schools remained poorly equipped. Until 1887, the instruction imparted
did not go beyond Standard III.

The white colonists had no desire to integrate Indians into the country's
socio-economic system. In reality, the increasing number of Indians permanently
residing in Natal was anathema to them. They were particularly tormented by
the fact that these immigrants, who according to them were 'the scum of
Madras and Calcutta,' should be eligible to appear on the electoral role.
Although the number of such Indians was extremely small, the white settlers
tried hard to deprive them of the right to vote. They did not succeed in doing
so as long as the protective arm of the Colonial Office remained firm. There
was also an apprehension that legislation to this effect might call for an
embargo on indentured immigration into Natal.

Partly as a result of pressures from Calcutta and partly for internal
reasons, the Natal Government appointed another commission* in 1 885 to restudy
the Indian problem. But nothing much came out of it except for the public
controversy that was sparked off by its report. The opponents of Indian immigration
were imbued with the idea that they were building up a new nation and, according
to them, the admission of 'undesirables' like those from India did not fit into the
scheme of things. The Natal Witness again was in the forefront. It argued: There
is probably not a single person in Natal who does not... deplore the Asiatic
invasion, but personal and selfish considerations raise a barrier to any movement
here to stem the tide. We want labour, is the cry;... and so we must take what is
offered and what is cheap. Of the social evil and evils to the body politic which
such indifference is fostering, they take no account...' At the other end of the
spectrum was the opinion expressed by L Hulett, one of the influential

* Headed by Sir Walter Wragg

THE COMING OF INDIANS

sugarcane planters. He had asserted in the Legislative Council that Indians
were the only reliable labour in the Colony. Its introduction, according to him,
had not only helped the sugar estates to prosper, but had also relieved labour
shortage generally. The anti-Indian voice in this debate was decidedly louder
The inevitable result was the gradual erosion of Indian rights in the Colony.
Local ordinances in Durban and Maritzburg had brought Indians within the
purview of vagrancy laws, whereby they had become liable to arrest as vagrants
if found on the streets after 9 p.m. without a pass. A law enacted in 1 890 went
to the extent of limiting the right of indentured Indians and their descendants
to the consumption of alcoholic drinks.

The Natal Government was anxious that the indentured labourers before
becoming eligible for their free return passage should remain in bonded service
for the entire period often years of their stay in the Colony and at the end of
it, they must compulsorily return to India.* As a quid pro quo, it proposed to
abolish the still continuing immigration subsidy, which the Colonial Office
had all along abhorred. This guile did not work and the Secretary of State
cold-shouldered both the proposals. About the immigrants’ compulsory return
to India after completion of the indentured service, his reaction was that the
British Government could not countenance a piece of legislation that interfered
with the ordinary rights of British subjects. As regards the idea of ten years'
indentured service, he advised the Natal Government to consult the Indian
authorities directly. When this proposal reached Calcutta, it was categorically
rejected by the Government of India. It argued that the proposed arrangement
would not be fair in so far as it would deprive the immigrant of the option to
return home at the end of five years, and at the same time prevent him from
makmg the best use of the second spell of five years in South Africa.

Having failed in these manoeuvres, the Government of Natal did
what lay in its power. For indentured Indians entitled to free return
passage on completion of ten years after arrival in Natal, the
Government could at its discretion commute the cost of the journey
into a grant of crown land. This right was taken away under law 25 of
1 891 . This legislation, though largely in the nature of a consolidation
of the existing laws, had some other regressive features also. The
effect of one most outrageous section was that if the labourers, without
first obtaining permission, absented themselves from work to approach
the Protector of Indian immigrants in order to seek redress of a
grievance, they were liable to be punished by fine or imprisonment,
even if their complaint was found justified. The victims of cruel treatment
had to ask for permission to go to the Protector from the very man
they were to complain against. One small mercy shown at the

* At one stage an incentive plan had been tried to encourage ten years' indenture. For
voluntary re-indenture on expiry of the regular five-year period, a special bonus of £10
was offered to the concerned labourers. But very few of them had availed themselves of
it because of their clear preference for unbonded life.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

instance of the Colonial Office was: the Indian labourers recruited
before this law was passed were to retain their earlier rights.

***

The Colony was continuing to prosper with the help of Indians. But its
white settlers, all the time torn by the fear of being swamped by those choosing
to settle down in Natal permanently, were not prepared to accept them as
fellow-citizens. The European settlers' fright had turned into a kind of dread
with the Indian traders' appearance on the scene. When some of them already
in Mauritius learnt about the arrival of indentured Indians in Natal in large
numbers, they felt tempted to follow them. The first Indian merchant to open
a shop in Natal was Sheth Abubakar Amod. He had taken care to have an
Englishman as his partner. The success achieved by him drew to the Colony
a few others from his home town. This inflow of Memons from Porbandar and
soon that of Bohras from Surat, at first only a trickle, had gradually increased.
The new Indian immigrants were often referred to as 'passengers', having
paid for their passage as distinct from the labourers who had come to Natal
under contract on government expense. The growing Asian community, earlier
served by a few Indian stores, was to be the main clientele of the passenger
merchants. The ex-indentured store-keepers could not withstand their
competition for long. By 1 885 the bulk of Indian shops in Durban had come
under the ownership of Gujarati merchants who chose to describe themselves
as Arabs. Some people called them Bombay merchants. The very rapid
success achieved by them in their business was viewed by the Europeans
as a new menace, far more serious than the imaginary threat they had already
faced from the indentured Indians who, on expiry of their contract period, had
branched off into different occupations.

The so-called Arab, who usually started with a retail shop, catered to
the needs not only of the Asians, but to those of white colonists and Africans
too. Often assisted by members of his family or relations, he could keep his
overheads low. He generally worked on a small margin of profit. The people
found that the cost of provisions was much less if purchased from an Arab
shop than from large stores run by the whites. Many a colonial housewife,
regardless of her prejudice against Indians in general, liked to patronize the
Arab charging the lowest prices. The white establishments were, thus, faced
with competition which, they could see, was affecting their business. In 1 880
there were seven Arab shopkeepers in Durban. By 1 885 their number was
sixty. According to the census of 1 891 , there were 1 32 Indian storekeepers
in that city. In the whole of Natal there were 598 such stores. In addition,
there were 1 72 Indian traders, as distinct from shopkeepers. The total number
of Indians in Natal by this time approximated to 41 ,000 — hardly 1 2 percent
less than the Europeans. It looked as if the Indian population would soon
exceed that of the whites. The economic and demographic factors had together
caused outright panic among the white colonists.

THE COMING OF INDIANS

The earlier lot of immigrants from India had for a long time quietly
accept-ed various forms of tyranny. The more confident and ambitious
Gujaratis and other Indians who had come over as free migrants could not
be that insensitive to their grievances. The Indian discontent found concrete
expression in a memorial sent to the Secretary of State for Colonies in
November 1 884.* It was the first signal shot conveying that submissiveness
on the part of Indians in Natal should not be taken for granted. The immediate
response of the whites was to further harden their attitude. The situation
would have been aggravated but for the moderating influence exercised by
the Colonial Office. The latter factor, combining with the Indian traders' own
awareness of the reality that if they were to make money in this foreign land
they should not aspire for equal status with the ruling class, had brought
about a tenuous sort of equilibrium. All the same, when they found that their
position was getting precarious, they did not hesitate to raise their voice by
way of protest about the difficulties they were experiencing.

Several Indian traders were drawn to the Cape by the lure of commercial
opportunities in that Colony. Some time-expired indentured labourers too had
moved in. On the whole, the treatment meted out to Indians here was not so
uncordial as in Natal. For one thing, their number was not too large. The Press
in Cape Town had generally not been hostile to the Indian community. The
Cape could also, to an extent, pride itself on a more liberal tradition in racial
matters. If it was not seriously affected by colour prejudice, the main reason
was its background of large-scale ethnic inter mixing. It had many Malays in
its population for whom the Cape was almost like their motherland. As Dutch
subjects, they had enjoyed more or less equal rights of citizenship and the
white settlers had come to accept this fact. Some of the Indian immigrants,
having married Malay women, had an additional sanction to identify themselves
with the colonists. Nevertheless, as the number of Indians gradually increased,
a consciousness regarding the danger of competition by them in the economic
sphere became perceptible. This change coincided with a general decline of
the earlier zeal for racial accommodation. It was conspicuously reflected in the
Franchise and Ballot Act of 1892, scaling up the educational and property
qualifications prescribed for the exercise of voting right.

The Coloured Agitation Committee, under the chairmanship of H.O. Ally,**
sent a representation to Gladstone, the British Prime Minister at that time,

* The person who piayed an active role on this occasion was M.A. Dooraswamy Pillai, a
resident of Natai since April 1883. The Indian merchants and storekeepers had subscribed
generously toward the expense incurred for preparation and submission of the memorial.

** Haji Ojer Ally's father was an Indian and his mother a Malay. Able to speak Hindustani
fluently, he had an equal command over Dutch and English. He took active part in public
affairs. Later, for a few years he lived in the Transvaal.

GANDH! — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

requesting him to withhold royal assent to the aforesaid law enacted by the
Cape legislature. Ally also wrote to Dadabhai Naoroji who, on his part, took
up the matter with great promptness. The Secretary of State for Colonies,
Lord Ripon,*** on receipt of the protest felt rather unhappy about this legislation.
When questioned, the Cape Government claimed that the measure was
moderate and non-racial. A technically non-discriminatory law, passed by
the legislature of a self-governing colony, to which the Governor had already
given his assent, could not be vetoed by the British Government.

***

The Orange Free State also had attracted some indentured labourers
after they were free on completion of their contract service in Natal. A few
Indian merchants too had gone over and opened shops. Although their number
was extremely small, the European settlers lost no time in launching an
agitation against them. The Free State Government readily passed a stringent
law prohibiting Indians from owning land or carrying on trade in the republic.
The British Government frowned upon this legislation on the ground that 'such
a proscription of one section of the settled population of a country, imposed...
without any... provocation, would be contrary to the uses of civilized States.'
The British High Commissioner made a protest about it, but with no result.
The Free State Government's contention was that its constitution recognized
the distinction between white and coloured races and that the enactment in
question was of a declaratory nature emphasizing and enforcing the existing
laws. In effect, the Indian traders were expelled from the republic with nominal
compensation for the losses incurred by them. Only some labourers, cooks
and hotel waiters were allowed to continue under special permission granted
by the Government at its discretion.

***

The situation in the T ransvaal was far more complex. The first lot of
Indians landed there in 1 881 . Sheth Abubakar again was the pioneer He
opened a shop in Pretoria and purchased a plot of land in one of its
principal streets. Many others followed suit. With gold discovered at
Barberton in 1884, the republic got off to a period of boom. Immigrants
started pouring in from various countries. The Indian traders had their
share in the all-round prosperity. Their success excited the jealousy of
European traders who started a relentless anti-Indian campaign. The
Indian community could make out how things were shaping. Some of
the leading persons among them went to see President Paul Kruger. He
showed scant regard for the deputation and kept these people standing in

★★★

He had distinguished himself as the most liberal Viceroy of India (1880-84).

THE COMING OF INDIANS

the courtyard. After hearing them for a while, he said: ’You are the
descendants of Ismael and therefore from your very birth bound to slave
for us. As the descendants of Esau, we cannot admit you to rights
placing you as our equals. You must rest content with what rights we grant
you.’

President Kruger was clear in his mind that it was his duty to protect
the interests of the whites. But if he was to do anything concrete about it, he
had to turn to the British who, while conceding to the T ransvaal a large measure
of autonomy in 1 881 in terms of the Pretoria Convention, signed before the
Indians' arrival there, had made it subject to the suzerainty of Her Majesty's
Government. In 1884 another agreement was reached under the London
Convention which aimed at increasing the scope of self-government. This
time the issue regarding British suzerainty was left vague. If the British
Government was to take care of Indians in the Transvaal, it had to rely on its
position as a suzerain power about which President Kruger had strong
reservations. The stand taken by Britain was that the London Convention had
merely amended the Pretoria Convention and that the articles not specifically
altered by the later agreement were still effective. Article 14 of the London
Convention (the same as article 26 of the Pretoria Convention) provided that
all persons other than the African blacks, conforming to the laws of the
Transvaai would be at full liberty to enter the Colony and engage in trade and
industrial activity. Prima facie, Indians were covered by the guarantee
contained in this clause.

The Transvaal Government's contention was that, according to the
basic laws of the republic, coloured persons, a term that included Indians,
were not entitled to the same treatment as whites. This gave rise to the
question whether the basic laws had antecedence over the Pretoria and London
Conventions. To remove whatever room there was for doubt, the Transvaai
Government wanted article 14 of the London Convention to be amended.
After a protracted correspondence channelled through the British High
Commissioner, the Secretary of State for Colonies (Lord Derby) came round
to the view that the aforesaid article 1 4 could be amended so as to allow full
liberty of entry and engagement in trade and industry, etc., only to persons
other than African blacks and Indian or Chinese coolie immigrants. In giving
its assent to this change, the Colonial Office had been rather imprudent. It
made things much worse by asking the Transvaal Government to go in for an
enactment to this effect on the basis of an assurance that Her Majesty’s
Government would not insist upon any such construction of the terms of the
Convention as would interfere with a reasonable legislation on the proposed
lines.* Behind the position thus taken by the British Government was its
inherent sympathy for the white population seeking segregation of the so-
called lower-class Indians and its inclination to safeguard the interests of
only upper-class Indians already established in the republic.

* Despatch of March 19, 1885 from the Secretary of State for Colonies to the British High
Commissioner in South Africa. Ref. Robert A. Huttenback, Op. Cit, p. 106.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The British Government had not realised then the implications of whittling
down the provisions of article 1 4 of the London Convention. The T ransvaal
Government was too happy over the green signal it had received. The result
was enactment of Law 3 of 1 885 excluding Asians, inclusive of the so-called
coolies and Arabs from citizenship and franchise, decreeing separate locations
for their residence and forbidding acquisition of landed property by them,
exacting a compulsory registration fee of £25 from new immigrants wanting
to settle in the republic to engage in trade or for other purposes. The law as
passed by the Volksraad had, according to the British Government, gone
beyond what it had agreed to, in so far as it would interfere with the rights of
Indian traders already in the Transvaal, a group that it had been eager to
protect. The T ransvaal Government argued back that it had legislated within
the frame of reference provided by the final despatch of the Secretary of State
to the High Commissioner which in responding to the proposals made by the
Transvaal Government, as also the High Commissioner's covering note, had
left some room for misinterpretation. Her Majesty's Government continued to
insist that Law 3 should be revised. In response to this pressure, Pretoria
justified the concept of locations on grounds of sanitation and public health
that would suffer if the 'eastern strangers' were allowed to continue in the
dwelling-places established by them in large numbers in the midst of white
population.

The British Government found it expedient to extricate itself from an
embarrassing situation by agreeing to the need for preserving adequate
standards of sanitation to be made the rationale for the establishment of
locations.

The amendment to Law 3 made in 1 886 met the above requirement by
inserting the words 'for purposes of sanitation' in the clauses empowering the
Government to assign to the Asians certain streets, wards and locations to
live in and to exclude them from acquiring fixed property elsewhere. The
latter part of it was not to have retrospective effect. The registration fee for
new entrants, according to this amendment, was reduced from 25 to £ 3.

The British Government persuaded itself into acceptance of Law 3
as amended. But when the Transvaal Government came to its
implementation it proceeded on the basis that Asians must both reside
and trade in special locations outside municipal limits. The Colonial Office
felt perturbed at this renewed attempt to drive out the established Indian
traders. In its minute of November 26, 1888, besides criticising the Transvaal
Government's faulty interpretation, it went on to flay the British High
Commissioner himself: 'Sir H. Robinson seems to... take the matter too
coolly, and in his friendship for the Boers to forget that these people [the
Indian traders] have claims to our protection as British subjects.' Soon he
was replaced by Sir Henry Loch who forcefully put it across to the Pretoria
regime that Law 3 referred only to locations for residential purposes and
that Indians could, therefore, continue to conduct business in the towns.

THE COMING OF INDIANS

He also claimed that Law 3 implied that the locations to be assigned for
Indians to reside would be within, rather than outside, the municipalities.

The legality of the T ransvaal Government's interpretation of Law 3
was tested when the firm of Ismail Suleiman approached the High Court
in August 1 888 for an injunction to the Middleburg municipality to give it
a licence to trade. The court upheld the Government's view and gave a
ruling that under Law 3 the Indians were required to maintain their business
as well as residence in the locations. The Transvaal administration was,
however, slow in implementing the new law. it did not like to offend the
British Government. But it was under severe pressure from the Volksraad,
faithfully representing the sentiment of white population in general, for
early implementation of Law 3. This legislative body had passed resolutions
in 1 888, 1 889 and 1 890 urging the executive to take prompt action. Yet
the Government did not step up its pace, thus straining the legislature's
patience.

The expulsion of Indian traders from the Orange Free State and the
anti-Asiatic legislation in the Transvaal could not but scare the entire Indian
trading community in South Africa. The well-to-do merchants having their
principal base in Durban, with smaller branches spread elsewhere, could see
that what was happening in the Boer republics would in due course overtake
them in Natal as well: hence the realisation that if they were to survive in this
foreign land they must get together and seek help from all quarters. That is
how the Durban Indian Committee came into existence in the beginning of

1891. The first move made at the instance of this body, was representation of
the Natal-based Indian traders' case to the Governor of Bombay. This petition
dated July 9, 1891, signed by certain merchants and other residents of
Bombay, passing through a long official channel, ultimately reached Whitehall
and resulted in the Secretary of State for Colonies taking up the matter with
the Government of Natal.

Some effect had also been produced by the telegrams sent by the Indian
merchants in Durban and Pretoria to Dadabhai Naoroji (in England at that time),
the Colonial Office, Prime Minister Gladstone and even Queen Victoria. In October

1892, they went on to address a memorial to Lord Ripon, Secretary of State for
Colonies, known for his sympathetic attitude towards the people of India.* The
oppression to which the indentured and ex-indentured Indians were subject had
also figured in the representations made. The merchants, however, saw to it that
the authorities in Natal dealt with them as a distinct group of British subjects not to
be clubbed with the Indian labourers. What happened was that the Natal
Government, on hearing from the Secretary of State, had in a routine way referred the

* See Maureen Swan, Gandhi - The South African Experience (Johannesburg, 1985)
pp38-43. She has studied in good detail the Indian merchants' political activity before
Gandhi's arrival in the subcontinent. She also refers to a printed pamphlet on Indian
grievances that had been got out towards the end of 1892. In June 1893 a second
pamphlet which dealt exclusively with the Orange Free State had been sent to the
Colonial Office.

t>6

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

matter to the Protector of Indian immigrants. As the specific responsibility of
the latter official was to look after the affairs connected with the indentured
Indians, who according to common belief were in a state of semi-slavery, the
Indian Committee had smelt the risk it would be running if it were to explain
the merchants' part of the case to him and, therefore, refused to do so,
whereupon the Government had to agree to deal with them directly.

All that the Indian merchants wanted was to 'salvage what they could
from the Orange Free State... to prevent a further deterioration of the situation
in the Transvaal, and to make it impossible for Natal to move in the same
direction as the two republics.' One indirect aim of the protests made was to
discourage the Imperial Government from undue haste in the grant of
responsible government to Natal which, it was felt, would bring in its wake
discriminatory legislation in the Colony similar to that already enacted in the
Boer republics. Ultimately the only gain that accrued was the creation of a
general consciousness at least in the Colonial Office that the two-fold problem
of Indians in South Africa, one part relating to the indentured labourers and
the second concerning those engaged in trade and other professions as free
persons, were required to be handled in the coming years with care.

This limited political activity may not have done much good. Yet it
was a sign of the awakening, howsoever feeble, that the Indian elite had
undergone in reaction to the widespread white prejudice against them.
Whatever experience they had gained should have been sufficient to bring
home the need of a political body more cohesively organized than the loosely
structured Indian Committee. More than that, they should have realised
what a handicap it was to have no one amongst them who could play a key
role in the handling of political issues and how awful it was to be entirely
dependent on the European lawyers for this purpose. Strangely, they did
not make any conscious effort to overcome this difficulty and circumstances
having no connection with this matter providentially brought Gandhi on the
scene. As the subsequent events were to prove, the right man had come to
South Africa at the right stage.

Sheth Abdullah's attorney In Pretoria, A.W. Baker, as much of a lawyer
as missionary, was to be in dose contact with Gandhi tor several months,
not only in professional work, but in matters concerning religion also. The
very first time they met, Baker had ascertained the young Indian’s religious
views. His spontaneous reply was: 'i am a Hindu by birth. And yet I do not
know much of Hinduism. I know less of other religions. In fact I do not know
where i stand, and what is and what should be my belief. I intend to make a
careful study of my own religion and, as far as I can, of other religions as
well.' No wonder, Baker sensed in Gandhi a potential convert to Christianity.
He immediately made it known to him that he was the local head of the
South African General Mission and that he had built, at his own expense, a
church where he delivered sermons regularly. Lest the person he was talking
to should have any misgivings, he put across in plain words that he was free
from colour prejudice and then went on to add: 'I have some co-workers, and
we meet at one o'clock every day for a few minutes and pray for peace and
light. S shall be glad if you will join us there. ! shall introduce you to my associates
who will be happy to meet you, and S dare say you will also like their company.

\ shall give you, besides, some religious books to read, though of course the
book of books is the Holy Bible, which I would specially recommend to you.'
Gandhi thanked him and agreed to attend the afternoon prayers.

The conversation that had taken place between him and Baker left
Gandhi pondering over the matter. He was unable to understand so deep an
interest on Baker's part in his beliefs. What bewildered him was the thought
of exposing himself to Christian influence before having made a serious attempt
to understand the religion to which he already belonged. After a good deal of
deliberation he could see that there should be no question of identifying oneself
with another religious order before understanding one's own faith. The next
day when Gandhi joined Baker and his group at the prayer meeting, he knelt
down to pray just as others present were doing. On this occasion, to the
usual prayer was added a special supplication: 'Lord, show the path to the
new brother who has come amongst us. May the Lord Jesus, who has saved
us, save him too.' The daily prayer did not take more than five minutes and
after it was over they used to disperse for lunch.

The prayer meetings enabled Gandhi to know some good Christians.
One of them was Michael Coates, a Quaker staunch in his faith but

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

extremely amiable. They did not take long to be friendly with each other.
They would go for long walks together. Coates often took him to his other
Christian friends, some of them very noble and God-fearing persons. He also
made available to Gandhi a number of books to read. Every Sunday they
discussed whatever the latter had read during the preceding week.

Coates had a strong desire to act as a healthy influence on his Indian
friend. One day he asked Gandhi to take off the string of beads he wore
around his neck. He insisted that this superstition did not befit a person like
him. The latter argued back that his late mother had given it to him out of love
and in the conviction that it would be conducive to his welfare; he could not
therefore discard it. He conceded, however, that when in due course it wore
away he would not have a new one.

Gandhi could see Coates as well as Baker and the other Christian
friends trying hard to stimulate his interest in their religion and get him round
to accepting it as the only pathway to salvation. About this time, he came in
contact with a family belonging to the Plymouth Brethren, a Christian sect
opposed to an elaborate order of priesthood. Someone amongst them
argued:

1 1 .

You cannot understand the beauty of our religion. From what you
say it appears that you must be brooding over your transgressions
every moment of your life, always mending them and atoning for them...

You can never have peace... as we believe in the atonement of Jesus,
our own sins do not bind us. Sin we must. It is impossible to live in this
world sinless. And therefore Jesus suffered and atoned for all the sins
of mankind. Only he who accepts His great redemption can have eternal
peace. Think what a life of restlessness is yours, and what a promise
of peace we have.

This argument did not at all appeal to Gandhi. His reply was utterly
simple and direct. He did not seek redemption from the consequences of sin.
What he wanted was riddance from sin itself, or rather from the very thought of
sin. Until he had attained that end, he would be content to remain restless.

Baker's next step was to take his Indian colleague to the
Wellington Convention, a major gathering organized by the Protestants.
The convention lasted for three days. Gandhi felt moved by the spirit of
religious exaltation prevailing there. He also saw that many were praying
for him. This fact only made him more circumspect, though earlier he
had told Baker that he had an open mind and that he would not hesitate
to embrace Christianity if he got a call to that effect from inside. The
more he listened to enunciations of the central Christian idea of
atonement for the sins of all by Jesus Christ's crucifixion, the more
unflinching was his refusal to accept that salvation could be attained
only by becoming a Christian.

While Baker and others were wanting Gandhi to adopt Christianity, his

HE FEELS HIS WAY

Muslim friends were making an effort to impress him with the purity of their
own religion. Enlightened by them on the strong points of Islam, Gandhi had
the curiosity to know more about it. For this purpose he studied some books
on the subject, including a translation of the Holy Koran.

It was because of his spirit of inquiry that he did not get swayed by the
influences he was exposed to. As he could see, neither Christianity nor
Islam was a perfect religion. The same thing could be said about Hinduism
too. He considered untouchability as its most reprehensible feature. Another
question that arose in his mind was: 'What was the meaning of saying that
the Vedas were the inspired word of God? If they were inspired, why not also
the Bible and the Koran?' Gandhi was finding it difficult to get at the heart of
reality. In this state of uncertainty, he thought of Raychandbhai in whom he
had found a truly religious person, driven by a genuine passion for truth. He
wrote to him about his predicament. The reply he received from him poured
balm on his troubled mind. The essence of what he told him was to be patient
and to study Hinduism more deeply which would help him understand its
subtleties and imbibe its charity which he may not find in any other religion.
Although Raichandra himself was a Jain, never did he try to draw his firend
toward Jainism as such. His emphasis was on the primacy of good conduct
which included ahimsa and self-restraint.

Gandhi had also written to his friends in England. Edward Maitland, a
former theosophist, who had been introduced to Gandhi by Josiah Oldfield
(editor of The Vegetarian), sent him two of his books: The Perfect Way —
The Finding of Christ* and The New Gospel of Interpretation. Gandhi studied
both with great interest and came to see Christianity as well as Hinduism in
a new light. The book that produced the deepest impression on him was
Tolstoy's** The Kingdom of God Is Within you. After reading it, he could
grasp the true spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and its relevance to present-
day life. It brought home to him that one could seek real fulfilment by doing
what is right, by loving all, and by freeing oneself from the evils of greed, lust,
anger and violence.

Gandhi continued his correspondence with Raychandbhai and Edward
Maitland. His thinking was gradually taking a direction completely different

* This was one of a series of books jointly written by Edward Maitland and Anna Kihgsford.
The latter, herself an ardent vegetarian, was a person of considerable literary acumen.
Both of them had a mystical bent of mind. The Hermetic Society, established by them,
aimed at bringing about a new world order.

** Leo Tolstoy was one of the leading lights of late-1 9th-century Russia. An aristocrat by birth
and upbringing, he had diverse interests — one of them, creative writing — in the earlier part
of his life. He became renowned as a novelist on publication of his two great master¬
pieces, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. When he was at the zenith of his reputation as
a writer, around the time he was 50, he became dissatisfied with himself and his way of
life. This spiritual crisis turned him into a moral thinker and a Christian anarchist. The
twists and turns that had been experienced by his soul since his childhood and youth
were set out by him in A Confession (1879) . He spelt out his changed thinking in
whatever books and pamphlets he wrote from this point onward. The most important of
his works during this phase was The Kingdom of God Is Within you.

GANDH! — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

from what his Christian friends at Pretoria had intended. He, however, always
felt beholden to them for having awakened in him a desire to remove his
doubts, which helped him take command of himself and gain footholds from
which he could have a wider view of things.

***

Even while Gandhi was engaged in anxious pursuit of spiritual inquiry,
he lost no time in taking his first steps toward giving practical shape to his
thoughts about associating himself with public work. Sheth Tyeb Haji Khan,
defendant in the lawsuit that had brought Gandhi to Pretoria, held here an
important position within the Indian trading community comparable to that of
Sheth Abdulla in Durban. Gandhi got in touch with him soon after his arrival
and with his help arranged for a meeting of the Indian residents in the city. His
address to this gathering was the first public speech of his life. He laid stress
on high standards of integrity in business. The Indian traders, according to
him, had special responsibility in this respect because their conduct would
determine the esteem in which ail their countrymen in South Africa would be
held. He also emphasized the importance of proper attention to sanitation.
Another point he stressed was the necessity to overcome their regional and
sectarian prejudices. The hard-headed businessmen could have laughed ala
sermon like this from a young newcomer but for the fact that behind what he
said there was a sincerity of purpose that nobody could doubt. Gandhi's
earnestness produced the right impression on the gathering, and a few
participants lustily backed him up. For his own part, he felt that some
knowledge of English was necessary for living among English-speaking people
and announced his readiness to hold a class for those interested in learning
the language. There were only three persons who chose to take advantage of
his offer — a clerk, a shopkeeper and a barber. Gandhi took the trouble of
going to their respective places of work to coach them. The first two were
able to make good progress and It helped them in their vocations. The third
one, as was his wish, picked up only a little bit to be able to deal with his
customers. This gesture on Gandhi's part was an evidence of his capacity for
taking pains to help his compatriots.

Encouraged by what transpired at the first meeting, the participants
had decided to meet at short intervals. These meetings became a regular
feature of the Indian community life in the city. The idea was to create a
forum to discuss matters of common interest freely. Gandhi, himself playing
an active role, came to know most of the Indians in Pretoria. After some
time, he established contact with the British Agent stationed there. The
latter was quite sympathetic to the indian cause although there was little
that he could do. Acquaintance with him provided Gandhi an opportunity
to go through some of the papers relating to the Indian problem and
understand it better.

HE FEELS HIS WAY

Resentment about the difficulties that the Indians had to face while
travelling by train stiil fresh in his mind, Gandhi wrote to the concerned railway
authorities on this subject. The crux of his argument was that the treatment
meted out was in violation of the regulations as they stood. He received a
letter in reply stating that first and second-class tickets would be issued to
Indians who were properly dressed. What a criterion! Its application entirely
depended on the whims of the railway officials.

The inconvenience that the Indians had to suffer during rail journeys
was an extension of the denial of civil liberties in general. For example,
under the regulations in force, Africans and Asians were not allowed to
walk on public footpaths or move about in the streets after 9 p.m. without
a permit. The enforcement of this rule, as far as Indians were concerned,
was somewhat erratic. The so-called Arabs amongst them were de facto
exempted, but it was at the discretion of police officials. This exemption,
however, could not have been applicable to Gandhi who often went out
late at night for a walk along with Michael Coates. The latter felt anxious
that it would be very embarrassing if the police at any time arrested his
Indian friend. To get over the difficulty, they went over to F.E.T. Krause
appointed about that time as the Public Prosecutor. He happened to be
Gandhi's contemporary as a law student in London and was good enough
to introduce him to his brother Dr. A.E.J. Krause, the Attorney General of
the republic. The latter, instead of ordering a routine pass for Gandhi,
gave an exclusive letter authorizing him to move about freely. This special
exemption was his indispensable armour whenever he was away from his
home.

An evening stroll through President Street to an open plain was so
enjoyable that Gandhi made it a part of his daily routine. Walking along
this road, he had to pass by President Kruger's house which, in comparison
to other bungalows nearby, was very modest. A plain structure with a compound
full of overgrown weeds, it was symbolic of the President's proverbial austerity,
as striking as his Boer chauvinism. The place was, however, guarded by
police patrol. The policeman on the post changed from time to time. There
had never been any hitch about Gandhi using the footpath. One day while he
was walking by, the man on duty, without any warning or behest to leave the
pavement, pushed him off and gave a kick that sent him staggering on to the
road. Gandhi was simply shocked. Before he could say anything, Michael
Coates who perchance passed that way on horseback shouted: ’Gandhi, I
have seen everything. I shall be your witness in court if you proceed against
the man. I am very sorry you have been so rudely assaulted.'

'You need not be upset,' said Gandhi. 'What does the poor man know?
All coloured people are the same to him. He no doubt treats the blacks just
as he has treated me. I have made it a rule not to go to court for any personal
grievance. So I do not intend to proceed against him.'

'That's just like you,' said Michael Coates, 'but do think it over again.
We must teach such men a lesson.'

GANDHI - ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Highly agitated, Coates turned to the policeman and, speaking in Dutch,
took him to task. Gandhi could not follow it, but immediately found the
constable offering an apology, which was needless because he did not hold
anything against the man. Whatever one might call it, Christian charity or
forgiveness, it was to be typical of Gandhi in the coming years Nevertheless,
the racial prejudice that he could see behind the incident had touched another
sore spot in his heart. Added to his earlier experiences, it left him clear about
what it meant to be a coolie

Reacting to a letter of protest written by an educated Indian to the
Transvaal Advertiser about this incident, the Natal Advertiser had raised a
hullabaloo, attacking Indian traders in the vilest possible manner and promoting
the idea of an anti-Asiatic League. Talking of them, the paper had freely used
words like ’wily5, 'wretched5, ‘parasites', 'semi-barbaric', etc. At the root of this
outpouring of wrath', was bitterness caused by the small European traders5
dwindling business because of competition offered by their Indian counterparts.
Frustration on this account was getting transformed into a phobia that the
Colony was heading for ruin. The Natal whites were scared of even a small
number of Asians having the right of franchise. In this environment it was
easy to foment dissensions and set the European section of population against
Indians That is what the Natal Advertiser aimed at. Gandhi was unable to
overlook it. He wrote two letters to the newspaper, the first one on September
19 and another on September 29, 1893, cogently arguing against the tirade
the paper had launched. The wordsmith in Gandhi had arrived, in the earlier
letter, refer ring to Indians' 'simplicity, their total abstinence from intoxicants,
their peaceful and, above ail, their businesslike and frugal habits', Gandhi
emphasized that it was their virtues, not vices, that were 'at the bottom of all
this contempt and hatred of the poor Indian traders/ He went on to ask: 'Is
this Christian-like, is this fair play, is this justice, is this civilization?' The
mam theme of his second letter was that the fear of the indian vote ever
swamping the European vote was baseless.

Having fired his first shots, Gandhi should have felt disposed to
follow up this broadside and take up the cause of Indians wholeheartedly.
But his position being what it was, he could not do so: his own future was
not yet clear to him. His political activity during this period remained at a
low key even though in the Transvaal itself the situation had reached a
critical stage. The Volksraad, impatient with the administration's
lackadaisical attitude toward implementation of the enactment regarding
segregation of the Asians, had on September 8, 1 893 passed a resolution
that all persons covered by law 3 of 1885, as amended in 1886, would
have to move to the locations set apart for them by January 29, 1894.
Indian merchants in the Transvaal sent Dadabhai Naoroji a cablegram
about it requesting him to seek intervention by Her Majesty's Government.
It was followed by more detailed communications concerning the position
of Indian settlers in the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.
Despite Gandhi's desire to take part in public work and the knowledge that

HE FEELS HIS WAY

he would have acquired by now about Indian politics in the Transvaal, he
had practically nothing to do with the vital problem regarding the intended
segregation of Asians. It is a pity that the leading persons of the Indian
community neither in the Transvaal nor in Natal had so far realised how much
benefit they could draw by involving Gandhi in their political affairs. In contrast
to this lack of foresight on their part, the white colonists had promptly perceived
a potential adversary in the young lawyer who had come from India on a
temporary assignment. As early as June 20, 1 893, the Natal Mercury, while
featuring a report on the local government having been asked to institute an
enquiry about a petition addressed by the Indian merchants in Durban to the
House of Commons through Dadabhai Naoroji, had made an interesting
comment: The receipt of this document and the advent of a young Indian
barrister would seem to bear some sort of affinity.' The person who made this
observation had displayed a rare journalistic astuteness.

***

With the passage of time, Gandhi's commitment to vegetarianism had
acquired greater fervour. He felt happy when his landlady under the influence
of her boarder adopted vegetarian diet for herself and her children. This change
provided Gandhi an opportunity to study from close quarters the practical
problems connected with vegetarianism. The cultivation of vegetables and
fruit in South Africa was neglected with the result that both the items of food
were expensive. He could see that South Africa offered good scope for garden¬
farming.

The theory of 'vital food' propounded byA.F. Hills had aroused in Gandhi's
mind a feeling that there was a good deal to be explored in the matter of food
beyond the conventionally practised vegetarian regimen. He had been in
Pretoria for hardly two months when he carried out an experiment of living on
raw food including grain, pulses, nuts and fruit. Gandhi tried it in two stages,
but found that his level of energy was going down and various other negative
symptoms were showing up. He called off the experiment after eleven days.
Its result had been more disappointing than that of the earlier trial he had
given this system of diet at Bombay. Still he did not deprecate Hills' idea of
'vital food'. In fact Gandhi was attracted by the scope it offered to simplify life
by elimination of cooking. After the failure of his experiment, he felt that a
stomach attuned to conventional diet for over twenty years could not so
easily adjust itself to uncooked food.

When Gandhi was in Wellington for the Protestant Christians' Conven¬
tion, a boy of about seven had been watching him and his vegetarian diet
with great interest. He became anxious to know why Gandhi did not take
meat. His parents, though non-vegetarians themselves, were believers in
the virtue of vegetarianism and did not mind Gandhi talking to their son
about it. One day the boy went out for a walk with him. The conversation

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

between them turned around vegetarian food and kindness to animals. Later
on, he learnt that the boy had not taken meat since then.

Gandhi had not snapped his connection with the London Vegetarian
Society. !n fact he was appointed its Agent in South Africa. Keen to lend his
fullest support to this Society, in a letter to its journal The Vegetarian, he
made a forceful appeal to the Indian vegetarians in England to become
members of the Society and subscribe to its weekly organ. Among the reasons
given by him was a pointed reference to the fact that the vegetarian movement
could be of help to India in so far as the English vegetarians would more
readily sympathize with Indian aspirations.

Making use of the free time available to him, Gandhi managed to
complete his Guide to London that he had started writing before leaving India
in response to numerous letters received by him on his return from England.
He thought that what he had wanted to record would be useful for students
going there for higher studies. Though it was never published, a copy of the
manuscript has survived. The thoroughness and precision with which Gandhi
executed this undertaking were going to be the important features of his way
of working. At the very outset, while making it clear that he did not aspire to
be an author, he had out of modesty remarked : 'Issuing guides does not
make authors. They are made of sterner stuff.' He had not yet known the
substance that had gone into his own making. However, the kind of booklet
he was aiming at indirectly provides a key to the nature of goals that were
ultimately going to attract him: '... The only reason why I write the book is
that no one has as yet written it though badly wanted... Facts which can be
determined easily from other sources will not generally find place in this
Guide, but the sources will be referred to. The province of the book is not to
collect information from the existing books but, to attempt that which has not
yet been attempted .' The last remark had in a way foreshadowed the fact that
originality in one form or the other was going to be the hallmark of Gandhi's life.

***

All these preoccupations did not stifle Gandhi's zeal for doing justice
to the real task that had brought him to Pretoria. The financial dispute be¬
tween Sheth Abdulla and Tyeb Sheth was a complex affair, full of intrica-cies
as to the nature of transactions and their accountal. Sheth Abdulla's claim
was partly based on promissory notes already issued by the defend-ant
company and partly on a specific promise to deliver further promissory notes.
The defence against the claim was that the instruments in question had been
obtained fraudulently without fulfilment of the contractual obligations. The
case revolved around numerous points of fact and law. Gandhi was required
to sift and screen full facts and prepare the case for the attorney. He applied
himself to this part of the work diligently. He translated the relevant
correspondence from Gujarati into English. He studied the papers and
examined all the accounts with great care.

HE FEELS HIS WAY

When the papers were ready to his satisfaction, Gandhi could see
that Dada Abdulla had a cast-iron case. But he was certain that in the normal
course the litigation would linger on for long as much at the cost of the
plaintiff as that of the defendant. They had engaged the best of lawyers. Their
fees were going to be a big burden on the litigants. Their involvement in the
case occupied so much of their attention that they could hardly concentrate
on current business. Even the winning party was not going to be a big gainer
as the costs allowed under the regulations were far short of the actual
expenditure incurred.

There is little that is just and fair in litigation. Tyeb Sheth had, as a
reprisal, tried to implicate Abdulla in a charge of smuggling. For this purpose
a book-keeper dismissed by Dada Abdulla and later employed by his opponent
became handy to be used as a convenient tool. His evidence was adduced
against his old master to hurt him to the maximum. The way the matter was
proceeding, it was clear that prolongation of the case was going to wreck
both the parties. Not only did they come from the same place, they were also
related to each other. Gandhi strongly felt that some means should be found
to bring the case to an early conclusion. The only method of achieving it was
that of arbitration. Gandhi threw all his weight in favour of this course of action
which ultimately received the approval of the court.

Even while the arbitration process was going on, Abdulla Sheth's firm
was still under the shadow of the smuggling case. The progress of the arbitration
proceedings was interrupted as a result of the Public Prosecutor's detectives
having seized some of the records belonging to Dada Abdulla and Co. in the
custody of the arbitrator. In the bargain, A. W. Baker who had tried to prevent
seizure of certain papers found himself trapped on the wrong side of law with
some of its painful consequences. Gandhi could not but feel disturbed by
these happenings. He was having a foretaste of the seamy side of his profession
and feeling thoroughly disgusted with it. Nevertheless he continued to play
the role he had marked out for himself.

The arbitrator's award went in favour of Abdulla Sheth, who according
to it was to receive from the defendant about £37,000 plus costs. It was
ratified by an order of the court. Now there was another predicament. Tyeb
Sheth was in no position to pay up the decreed amount immediately. There
could be nothing more abhorrent to him than taking recourse to insolvency
proceedings. The only solution was that Abdulla Sheth should agree to accept
payment in easy instalments. Gandhi found it extremely difficult to prevail
upon his employer to allow this concession as a matter of grace. When after
a good deal of persuasion he did come round to it, no one could be happier
than Gandhi. The spirit of compromise had triumphed. With tensions of the
court case gone, both the parties felt relieved. They also gained esteem in
the ranks of the Indian community.

This case was a valuable piece of education for Gandhi. He had already
known that facts were three-fourths of the law. This idea now became a

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

conviction with him. Having seen the sordidness of a legal battle from close
quarters, he was impelled to work out his own ethic of the profession to
which he was seeking entry. The way he used his influence to bring about
conciliation between the two Sheths and the success he achieved in doing
that left him with the firm belief that the true function of a lawyer was to bring
the litigants round to understanding each other and promote reasonable and
just settlement between them. This remained his guiding principle as long as
he practised law. It is amazing that experience of this solitary case at Pretoria
should have influenced the man of law in Gandhi so powerfully.

ON ANCHOR

At the time Gandhi's work in Pretoria was coming to a close, whether
he should establish himself somewhere in South Africa or get back to India
was for him a decision of vital importance. If he were to settle down there,
he was to be prepared to trudge through the outgrowth of the Whiteman's
prejudice against immigrants from India. He had known that an encounter
with evil carried its own reward and there was no need to run away from it.
He should have certainly liked the idea of striking a root in the Transvaal
or Natal for practising law which would also permit him to take part in
public work. For anyone, placed as he was, the natural thing to do was to
sound some people who could possibly lend him a helping hand. He did not
go about it like that, although he was on friendly terms'with a number of
persons, Indian as well as European. His hesitation to avail himself of
their munificence in a way that would hurt his self-esteem is
understandable. It is also a fact that despite the all-round bracing of his
personality during the past one year he was not completely free from his
old, enervating diffidence. The way his thinking appears to have proceeded
was: he would consider the question of setting himself to work in South
Africa if there was a definite call for his services in some form. The absence
of any such demand must have been a serious disappointment to him.
Gandhi was in this state of mind when, on conclusion of the lawsuit for
which he had been employed, he quietly took leave of his friends in Pretoria
and returned to Durban with the intention of leaving for India. Even Abdulla
Sheth, who had by this time realised Gandhi's worth and respected him
for it did not think of asking him to stay on in South Africa. As a matter of
savoir-faire , he organized a befitting farewell before Gandhi's departure.
For this purpose a get-together was arranged at Sydenham, a pleasant
seaside resort adjoining Durban. All the leading Indians in town were invited
to spend the whole day there .

During some moments of respite Gandhi, browsing through a
newspaper, read a news item about an enactment in the offing that would
disfranchise in Natal the Indian settlers who under the existing law fulfilled
the conditions for exercise of voting right. He asked Dada Abdulla if he
was aware of the coming legislation. The very mention of this subject
awakened in the Sheth painful memories of what had earlier happened in
the Orange Free State, and the way Indian trade there had been ruined.
Wearing a disheartened look, he expressed his own and his colleagues'

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

helplessness and referred to their complete dependence on European
attorneys due to lack of education among them. On getting this reply, Gandhi
had to do some quick thinking. He had already packed up to leave for India.
He could not have spoken out all that passed his mind, but in his characteristic
manner he dramatized the whole situation by making one remark that took
everybody's breath away: 'If this bill is passed, it will make things extremely
difficult. It is the first nail into our coffin. It strikes at the root of our self-
respect.'*

Shaken by Gandhi's word of caution, Abdulla Sheth recalled what had
happened a few years earlier. The whole trouble had arisen out of political
rivalry between two powerful Europeans. One of them, Harry Escombe, a
distinguished member of the Natal Bar, having the wealthiest of Indian traders
as his clients, had apprised them of their right of franchise. At his instance
some Indians, who were entitled to vote but had so far been indifferent about
it, registered themselves as voters and lent their support to him. The Indian
settlers' going in with Harry Escombe had alarmed his opponents and all
others having hard feelings against immigrants from Asia. Thus trade jealousy,
already a powerful driving force, got intermixed with political rivalry and various
efforts were made to eliminate the Indian vote. If these machinations remained
unsuccessful so far, it was because Natal as a crown colony could not go its
own way. Some of the issues relating to exercise of voting right by Asians
were taken to the Supreme Court, but the judicial decisions went in their
favour. Because of the consequent frustration among the whites, their anti-
Asiatic sentiment had reached a point of frenzy.

After the establishment of responsible government in July 1 893, the
anti-Indian lobby had gathered further strength. At the time of elections held
within a few weeks, the tempers were high. The majority of Europeans
hated the idea of importing labour from India, more so as far as permanent
settlement of these immigrants in their country was concerned. The
sugarcane-planters who were being criticised for their ceaseless ciamour
for Indian indentured labour at the taxpayer's expense had cleverly tried to
divert popular discontent against Indian traders. Thus, practically all of them
were opposed to the grant of full rights of citizenship to those who had
come from India.

Although Gandhi did not dwell upon it in his autobiography, one can judge he must have
been unhappy with the leading Gujarati merchants in Pretoria and Durban for complete
lack of imagination on their part to think of involving him in the political affairs. It is also
necessary to recall that he had dealt with the question of Natai Indians' voting right at
considerable length in his letter of September 29, 1893 to the Natal Advertiser (CWMG, Vol.
1, pp. 78-81). He could not, therefore, have been altogether out of touch with later develop¬
ments in that regard. The manner in which he raised the franchise issue with Dada Abdulla
and others at Sydenham was indicative of his desire to put them wise before his departure.
The newspaper story which came to his notice provided him a good opportunity to do so.

ON ANCHOR

The Forward Party, after its victory at the ballot box, was eager to fulfil
the promises it had made during the election campaign. One of the first initiatives
taken by Sir John Robinson's ministry was to despatch an official deputation to
India with the specific object of exploring the possibility of modifying the terms
on which indentured labour was being imported. The aim was somehow to
make it impossible for the time-expired labourer to settle down in the Coiony
as a free man. The mission accomplished the task very well. It had prepared
the ground for imposition of a residence tax on the labourers deciding to remain
in the Colony after the expiry of their indenture.

The second important issue pertaining to the Indian community before
the new Government was that of franchise, in the very first session of the
Natal Legislative Assembly, one of the private bills had sought to withdraw
the voting right available to persons of Asian origin. The session was too
short for this bill to be taken up. At the next session, the Government itself
introduced the Franchise Amendment Bill that aimed at excluding Asians
from the franchise except those who were already on the voters' list. This
was the context in which the matter came up for discussion among the
Indians who had gathered at Sydenham to bid farewell to Gandhi. Dada Abdulla
acknowledged that he and his friends had not attached much importance to
the voting right. Having realised the mistake, he earnestly asked Gandhi
what he would like them to do. One of the guests, who was listening with
special interest, suddenly intervened and, addressing Gandhi, said: 'Shall I
tell you what should be done? You cancel your passage, stay here a month
longer, and we will fight as you advise us.' All the others chipped in with one
voice: 'Indeed, indeed. Adbulla Sheth, you must hold back Gandhibhai.' The
Sheth was too astute and farsighted. He did not want to take it all on his
shoulders. He said: 'Now I cannot detain him on my own. You have as much
claim on him as I have. But I do agree with your line of thinking. Let us all
persuade him to stay on. You must remember that he is a barrister. What
about his fees?'

Ail the while, Gandhi was wrapped up in thought. Here was a call on
him to step forward if he was prepared to undertake a venture. The moment
the question of his fees was raised, he got a jolt and put in sharply: 'Abdulla
Sheth, fees are out of the question. There can be no fees for public work. I
can stay, if at all, to serve my brethren. As you know, I'm not acquainted with
all the friends present. But if you believe that they will cooperate, I am ready
to continue here a month longer. There is one thing, however. Though you do
not have to pay me anything, work of the nature we contemplate cannot be
done without funds. It may involve printing some material, having consultation
with local attorneys and even a bit of touring. As I am ignorant of the local
laws, I may need a few law books for reference. All this cannot be done
without money. It is also clear that one man is not enough for this work. I will
need a lot of help.’ All those present burst out: 'Allah is great and merciful.
There will be no dearth of money. Men there are, as many as you need. If you
stay back, all will be well.'

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The farewell party had turned into a political gathering.* Gandhi did not
have many calculations to make for himself. His response was immediate and
spontaneous. He had decided to anchor himself in Durban for about a month.
His mind was busy working out the further plan of action. After a quick dinner,
they dispersed with an understanding that they would meet the next day.

All those who joined the meeting held the following day at Dada Abdulla's
spacious house under the chairmanship of Sheth Haji Mohammed, who among
the Indians at Durban had always occupied a place of honour, were exhilarated
by the very idea of an organized struggle to protect their rights. After the main
resolution to offer opposition to the Franchise Amendment Bill was passed,
enrolment of volunteers was taken in hand. The challenge that the Indian
community was having to face brought together a large variety of people; of
course, the well-to-do merchants were in the forefront. The leading Indian
Christians, Subhan Godfrey in particular, took active part in the meeting. As a
result of their effort, the Indian Christian youth, better educated than others,
came forward in considerable number and enrolled themselves as volunteers.

The organizational and other preparatory work, it appears, did take a
lot of time.** Gandhi had to make a thorough study of the subject, consult
the lawyers who had earlier worked for the Indian community and search out

* There is considerable confusion regarding the actual dates of the farewell party at
Sydenham and the meeting held the following day. That makes it difficult to have a clear
view of the manner in which Gandhi went about dealing with the franchise issue during
the first few weeks after having cancelled his return passage to India. The chronology for
the period in CWMG, Vol.1 (p.358) gives May 22, 1894 as the date (but not without a
question-mark) on which the prominent Indian merchants had met [at Durban] and set up
a committee to agitate against discriminatory legislation. According to H.S.L. Polak, who
had contributed the section dealing with Gandhi's early years (including the South Africa
period) to his biography entitled Mahatma Gandhi published by Odhams Press Ltd,
Long Acre, London in 1949, the Natal Indian Congress was formed on May 22, 1894.
Obviously this does not refer to the formal establishment of the Congress. He had
mentioned this date keeping in mind the importance of the meeting at which the idea of
having such a body would have come up in its preliminary form. But if one has to go by
Pyarelal's Mahatma Gandhi- The Early Phase (Ahmedabad, 1965), p. 415, the farewell
at Sydenham has to be taken as having been held on June 25, 1894 and the next day's
meeting on June 26, 1894. T.K. Mahadevan, in The Year of the Phoenix (New Delhi,
1982), pp. 57-63, has dealt with this issue at great length. After going through the
evidence collected by him and the arguments he has put forward, one cannot accept the
position taken by Pyarelal on this point.

** Gandhi was at this time 'inexperienced and young' (CWMG, Vol. I, p.106). The piece of
work he had taken up was new to him. If there had been delay in getting the petitions ready,
it should be understandable. T.K. Mahadevan interprets it as 'delaying tactics' on Gandhi's
part to let 'the dreaded month slip through' (T.K. Mahadevan, op. cit, p. 74) as if it was a
contractual period of such a special nature that tiding over it somehow would have
materially changed the situation. Considering the circumstances in which Gandhi wrote
his autobiography, it is certainly necessary to be careful in making use of it as source
material to construct the story of his life over the years covered by it. At the same time,
jumping to so harsh a conclusion as T.K. Mahadevan does, is entirely unjustified. The
fact remains that the petition addressed to Lord Ripon on July 17, 1894 could not have
been sent before the Bill was passed by both the Houses. If the affected Indians had no
use for Gandhi after July 17, he could have been relieved for return to India at that time.

ON ANCHOR

material that would be useful to counter the arguments adduced in favour of
the proposed legislation. By the time he was able to draft the petitions required
to be submitted, the Legislative Assembly had gone far ahead. On June
20,1894 the Bill had already come up for its second reading.

The Prime Minister Sir John Robinson had expressly upheld the
principle of disfranchisement on racial grounds. The Asiatic, according to
him, was neither an offshoot of the soil nor an offspring of the races colonizing
the subcontinent. The men who had occupied and colonized South Africa...
were determined to affix and impress upon South Africa in the future the
character and institutions of a Christian and European civilization. And if this
continent were to be properly reclaimed from barbarism ... it would be, only
through the recognition of these principles. '(Italics mine).

He had further argued that those affected by the Bill had not come to
Natal 'with any grand political pretensions or aspirations', but only to make
money or earn a livelihood. The proposed amendment, he added, 'would not
depri ve these people of anything that they had in the past.' The most amazing
statement he made was:'... if these people suddenly found themselves
endowed with these new and strange privileges, there were grounds for
believing that they might become propagandists of agitation and instruments
of sedition in that great country from which they came.' Such was the
impatience to pass the legislation that the second reading of the Bill was
hurried through on the day it was taken up, with the house sitting up to 10
o'clock at night.

Gandhi had taken note of the fact that the absence of any kind of protest
from the Indians against the proposed legislation was being viewed as a sign of
their unconcern and hence a proof of their unfitness for franchise. He was also
feeling put out by the speed at which the legislative machinery was moving. He
was now anxious not to lose any more time in the presentation of a petition to
the Legislative Assembly making out a case against the proposed law. Since
the bill had gone through the committee stage on June 26, 1894 and was to
come up for the third reading on June 27, the first thing Gandhi did was to issue
a telegram to the Speaker of the House and the Prime Minister requesting for
postponement of further discussion of the Bill, which was in consequence put
off, but by no more than one day. Even this small mercy was welcome. It
allowed a little more time for presentation of the petition to the House. The one
Gandhi had drafted sought to refute, with the help of facts and references
within easy reach, that Indians had not known elections in their own country
and that they were not fit for exercising the right of franchise. The crux of the
argument was that representative institutions were an essential feature of the
village communities in India from ancient times and that local self-government
in the widest sense of the term was not at all new to that country. The petition
concluded with a request for appointment of a commission to enquire into the
question before proceeding further with the Bill. The master copy was written
by an old man known for his calligraphy. The volunteers had to work unremittingly
to obtain the maximum number of signatures.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

It was a great event when on June 28, the petition was presented to the
Assembly. The visitors' gallery was for the first time invaded by Indians anxious
to watch the proceedings. When the petition was admitted, it was ordered to
be published for general information. To allow members sufficient time to study
the matter, the Prime Minister further postponed the third reading of the Biil by
four days. On June 29, a deputation including Gandhi waited on the Prime
Minister. Whatever arguments had not been incorporated in the earlier petition
were brought up in the memorandum submitted by this deputation. They received
a patient hearing but were told that all this was too late. The ruling party was
bent upon disfranchising the Asians. The third reading was taken up by the
Assembly on July 2, and the Bill was passed.

The Indians were determined to fight all the way. On 3 July another
deputation waited on the Governor of Natal and submitted to him a memorandum.
The very next day a petition was addressed to the Natal Legislative Council,
followed by a second one on July 6 that was more elaborate and brought out
the anomalous results that would follow from the operation of the proposed law.
Despite these exertions on the part of Gandhi and others helping him, all the
three readings of the Bill were rushed through the Upper House.

A happy thing had happened: When the Bill was at the committee
stage in the Lower House, at the Prime Minister's instance a new clause
was added whereby the Act was not to come into force until Her Majesty's
approval thereto had been obtained. So the Indians had an opportunity
to move the Secretary of State for Colonies to advise the crown to withhold
royal assent to the legislation. Gandhi worked extraordinarily hard to draw
up a comprehensive memorial. He studied all relevant literature that he
could lay hands on. The case he now made out more discerningly dealt
with the premises on which the new legislation was based and the various
arguments that had been put forward by its advocates during the debates
in both Houses. He mustered ample evidence to explode the myth that
representative institutions were the exclusive reserve of Europeans. He
tried to prove that some of the Indians resident in Natal, including those
born and brought up here, were capable of exercising the voting right.
On the point of expediency which according to Gandhi's judgment was
the principal consideration for debarring Indians from the exercise of
political rights, he had argued that the number of Indians who could
possibly qualify for franchise under the existing law was so small
that there was no question of the European vote being swamped by the
Indian electorate.

Having first argued the case on the basic points, Gandhi lifted the
whole issue to a different plane. He described this measure, 'so sweeping
and so drastic', as 'an insult to the whole Indian nation, inasmuch as if the
most distinguished son of India came to Natal and settled here, he would not
be able to have the right to vote.' He reminded the Colonial Secretary that the
first responsible government formed after the Colony getting a 'freer
constitution', had attempted to make Indians 'less free' and to

ON ANCHOR

disfranchise them wholesale. He also brought into focus that there was in the
Colony a wide gulf between the Europeans and the Indians. The latter were
hated and shunned by the whites. They were often needlessly vexed and
harassed. The new law, he argued, would make it worse. He went on to say
that the Franchise Bill was only 'the proverbial thin end of the wedge.' He
illustrated it by reference to the desire expressed by some members of the
legislature that the Indians should not be allowed to vote at the municipal
elections also. He further pointed out that the enforcement of this law would
be simply disastrous to the interests of the British Indian subjects in other
parts of South Africa. Down-trodden and hated as they already were in the
Transvaal, things would be simply unbearable for them if their brethren in a
British colony were allowed to be treated on an unequal footing. He concluded
with the hope that the British Government would not allow an unwarranted
interference with the rights of one section of Her Majesty's subjects by another.

To enhance the effect of this 4,000-word-long representation, signatures
of 1 0,000 Indians, spread over the whole of Natal, were obtained. This itself
was a big task, particularly so because no signature was to be taken without
the person concerned having fully understood the petition. The collective effort
made to complete this work had galvanized the volunteers into a well-knit
team. The petition was at last sent to Lord Ripon on July 17,1894. A thousand
copies had been printed for extensive distribution to make the conditions in
Natal widely known. The help of the Indian and the British Press had also
been sought.

Gandhi was aware of Dadabhai Naoroji's interest in the welfare of his
countrymen in South Africa. The advantage of approaching him at this juncture
was obvious. As a member of the House of Commons, he could be of great
help. Even while Gandhi was busy writing petition after petition, he did not lose
any time in communicating with the 'Grand Old Man'. The first letter he wrote to
him on July 5, 1 894 is of special interest. It concluded on a personal note:

... I am yet inexperienced and young and, therefore, quite liable to
make mistakes. The responsibility undertaken is quite out of proportion
to my ability. I may mention that I am doing this without any remuneration.

So you will see that I have not taken the matter up, which is beyond
my ability, in order to enrich myself at the expense of the Indians. I am
the only available person who can handle the question. You will, therefore,
oblige me very greatly if you will kindly direct and guide me and make
necessary suggestions which shall be received as from a father to his
child.

In this letter, conspicuous both for its note of modesty and self-awareness,
Gandhi did not hesitate to describe himself as a person who had taken up
public work without any desire for personal gain. It was an affirmation of
moral commitment by an honest person determined to abide by it.

FINDS HIS MOORINGS

After the petition to Lord Ripon had been sent, Gandhi was to determine
his future course of action. In his letters to Dadabhai Naoroji there was no
indication that he was to leave South Africa shortly. Although it is possible
that Gandhi had foreseen his prolonged involvement in Natal, he must have
been wanting to gauge what the people around him felt and only then take a
final decision.

It soon became clear that those who were associated with him during
this short period would not brook the idea of his departure from Natal. They
urged him to give up his plan, if any, of getting back to India. It may not have
been necessary for them to have much of an argument about it because
Gandhi, on his own part, would have welcomed the move.* However, for his
continued stay in South Africa on a long-term basis he had to find a solution
to the problem of acquiring a source of livelihood. It was his view then that
unless he could have a decent living standard he would not be able to do
justice to his political work. So he had, among other things, to plan for
satisfactory residential and office accommodation in a good locality. After
weighing ail these things in his mind, Gandhi explained to his Indian friends
that he would be in a position to stay on if the merchants could hold out an
assurance of providing him legal work that was enough to fetch him about
£300 a year which was the minimum amount required to maintain the kind of
household he had in view.

About this proposal the persons concerned said that they could easily
provide him the amount in question for his public service, to supplement what
he might earn from his legal work. Gandhi appreciated their sentiment
but was not prepared to live on public expense. He explained to
them that whatever was to be done about the political issues facing the
Indian community would be the result of a joint effort in which all would be
participating financially and otherwise. How could he, of all the people, charge
for his share of the work? If he were to draw his maintenance from them,
it would not be possible for him to be as effective as he would

* This remark takes into account what had happened to Gandhi both in physical and
psychic terms on the fateful night at Maritzburg during his journey from Durban to
Pretoria in June 1893, in the light of which it would not be wrong to assume that he did
have a strong wish to stay on in South Africa and play a role in the Indians' fight for their
civil rights. This desire of his was, however, subject to the condition that his compatriots
in South Africa should call upon him to do so.

FINDS HIS MOORINGS

otherwise be. Apart from entailmentof a principle, the proposition put forward
by them was, according to Gandhi, objectionable also from the standpoint of
practical considerations. They were still not satisfied. Their contention was
that since they wanted him not to leave, it was their duty to meet his expenses.

Gandhi could drive a point home with grace peculiar to his style of
conversation. First he asked them how they could be certain that their love
and enthusiasm which made them talk like that would endure for ever and
then went on to say:

And as your friend and servant, I should occasionally have to say hard
things to you. Heaven only knows whether I should then retain your
affection ... the fact is that I must not accept any salary for public
work. It is enough for me if you all agree to entrust me with your legal
work. Even that may be hard for you. For one thing I am not a white
barrister. How can I be sure that the courts will respond to me? Nor
can I be sure how I shall fare as a lawyer. So even in giving me
retainership you may be running some risk. I should regard even the
fact of your giving them to me as a reward of my public work.

The discussion led to about twenty merchants undertaking to give him the
retainership for one year.

Gandhi immediately applied for admission as an advocate of the Su¬
preme Court. To his great surprise, the Law Society chose to oppose his
application and for this purpose engaged a distinguished lawyer who hav-ing
had dealings with Dada Abdulla and Co. thought it proper to talk to Gandhi
about his antecedents. The latter had with him his certificate of admission to
the Bombay High Court. ,He could not attach the original Inner Temple
certificate to his application as it had been deposited at Bombay at the time
of his enlistment there. Another point of objection, a more substantive one,
was: the two European merchants who had written the testimonials appended
to the application could not have known enough about him. Gandhi's short
and simple reply was that everyone there was a stranger to him. Even Sheth
Abdulla had not known him for more than a year. The lawyer at once remarked:
'But then you say both of you belong to the same place. If your father was
Prime Minister there, Sheth Abdulla is bound to know your family. Why don't
you produce his affidavit? If you do that, I would gladly communicate to the
Law Society my inability to oppose your application.' Gandhi was unable to
understand how the family he belonged to was relevant to his admission as
an advocate. How could his birth, even if humble or exceptional, be held
against him? But Gandhi kept his feelings in check and quietly replied: though
he did not accept that the Law Society had any authority to demand all these
details, he was quite prepared to present the affidavit in question.

The counsel felt satisfied when Sheth Abdulla's affidavit on the lines
indicated by him was produced. The Law Society was still not prepared to

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

relent. It persistently opposed the application, but failed to achieve its purpose.
The Supreme Court did not accept any of its contentions. One of the points
raised was that when the regulations for admission of advo-cates were framed,
the possibility of a coloured person seeking enrolment could not have been
contemplated. Since Natal's growth was the result of European enterprise,
nothing should be done which might open up the possibility of coloured people
gradually coming to dominate the bar. The Chief Justice observed that the
law made no distinction between the white and coloured persons for this
purpose and the court had no authority to prevent the applicant from being
enroled as an advocate. Thus Gandhi was admitted to the bar.

The moment Gandhi was sworn in, the Chief Justice asked him
to take off his turban and comply with the rules regarding the dress to
be worn by practising barristers. Gandhi was taken aback. There was
no time to think. He acted instinctively and took off his turban. He was
conscious of the fact that he was going back on the stand he had
taken when he was faced with this problem in the district court, though
in a different situation. He knew that he had a strong enough case to
justify resistance even against this order. He chose to reserve his fighting
strength for a bigger cause. Gandhi's Indian friends did not feel happy
at the tameness shown by him on this occasion. He tried to explain
that after having taken the oath it would not have been right on his part
to disregard the regulations of the court, but he could not satisfy them
about it. In his own mind he was clear that some measure of compromise
was fully justified in such matters. Many years later when he recalled
this incident, he had no reason to regret the decision taken by him on
the spur of the moment.* Incidentally, the circumstances of his
enlistment as an advocate and the hurdles he had to overcome made
Gandhi widely known, which was of advantage to him in his work. A
leading paper in distant Johannesburg commented that the Law Society
had not 'added lustre to its somewhat doubtful prestige' by its specious
attempt to exclude from legal practice Mr. Gandhi who as a member of
the Inner Temple was 'in all probability very much better qualified to
practise than the vast majority of... his local colleagues.'

Gandhi set up his home in Beach Grove Villa, a compact, two-
storeyed, sparsely furnished house in a posh locality. Harry Escombe, the
Attorney-General, was one of his neighbours. Not very far from the house
was Gandhi's office where he had a small establishment. Some of his
employees had their boarding and lodging with him. The entire set-up was
used by him for political work also.

There was no extravagance about Gandhi's household, but he was
intent on maintaining a reasonable standard appropriate for his status as
an Indian barrister and a spokesman of his countrymen. Hospitable and
friendly, he had to spend quite a lot on house-keeping even with plain

The over-all situation was such that Gandhi was in desperate need of starting the law

practice and he could not take a risk in the matter.

FINDS HIS MOORINGS

vegetarian victuals. He was always so busy that he had hardly any time to
control the household. To feel free on this account, he invited his friend Sheikh
Mehtab to join him. He came from Rajkot, took full charge of the household
and lived as 'companion and help'. Gandhi, thinking that Mehtab would have
grown out of the earlier flaws in his character, placed complete trust in him. In
fact, he had not changed and soon started abusing his friend's confidence.
For some reason he got jealous of an office clerk who was staying with
Gandhi and very cleverly poisoned the latter's mind against him. The moment
that person felt that his employer had started suspecting him, he gave up his
job out of disgust and left. When he was gone, Gandhi realised that he had
not been fair to that person.

About this time, the cook went on a few days' leave and his place was
taken by a substitute. This person lost no time in observing certain shady
things happening in Gandhi's household without his knowledge and decided
to warn him about it. Gandhi would normally go home for lunch at about one
o'clock. One day, well before meal time, the new cook came to his office and
asked him to go and see what was happening in his house. 'What is it, after
all?' Gandhi asked, 'You must tell me what it is all about... I cannot go home
at this time.' In reply the cook said: 'There is no time to lose. You will regret
it, if you don't come. That is all I can say.'

Gandhi felt there must be some good reason for the man to insist so
hard. He left with him accompanied by one more person from his office. The
cook led them straight to Mehtab's room and said: 'Please have the door
opened and see for yourself.' Gandhi knocked at the door. There was no reply.
He knocked again and with full force. At last the door opened. There was a
prostitute inside beside his friend. Gandhi asked her to leave the house and,
turning to Mehtab gave him a piece of his mind. Instead of feeling ashamed,
Mehtab brazenly threatened Gandhi: 'I am going to expose you.' 'You do what
you like. I have nothing to hide. But you leave the place, this very moment,'
said Gandhi sharply. Mehtab became more defiant. He would have turned
violent but for the intervention of Vincent Lawrence, the confidential clerk. Gandhi
was absolutely firm and was going to ask for police help. The moment Mehtab
realised that the person he had been taking for granted meant business, he
offered his apologies and left the place without further ado.

Mehtab had got the woman in question into the house a number of
times, but he was so powerful and his influence over his friend so great that
no one had the courage to uncover his misdeeds. Providence had come to
Gandhi's help by bringing the new cook into the picture. The man, himself
quite a rogue, had somehow been impelled to do this good turn to his temporary
master. Interestingly, straightaway he asked Gandhi to be kind enough to
relieve him: 'I cannot stay in your house. You are so easily misled. This is no
place for me.' Gandhi let him go.

It was an eventful day — much more important than is commonly
realised. Thoroughly disillusioned, Gandhi also felt a good deal of relief. He
saw in this whole happening the hand of God . He could not but recall his school

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

days and the course of his friendship with Sheikh Mehtab who had been
detested by the entire Gandhi family. So deep and intense had been his own
attachment that even while in England Gandhi used to send his friend money
out of his meagre allowance. At long last, he had come to under-stand that
he had been blinded by his infatuation for Mehtab. He could see that by making
any further attempt to reform the guy he would only be ruining himself. Now
that his eyes were opened, he did not balk at throwing him out.

He had been first drawn to Mehtab at a time when he was badly in
need of such a friend. Once the friendship was formed it was like an addiction
and Gandhi held fast to it, constantly justifying the connection and defending
it against all kinds of criticism. The relationship, so long as it lasted, had
involved strong emotional ties. Any attempt at understanding it through a
conventional dissection of the subconscious can be totally futile. Even Erik
H. Erikson, while discussing the suggestion that Gandhi's nervous-ness at
the time of his departure for England in 1888 had 'ensued from a kind of
homosexual panic induced by the anticipation of being separated from Mehtab,'
has not gone beyond making a guarded statement that 'some such latent
element cannot be excluded.' On the other hand, he is unreservedly positive
in his view of Mehtab as a personification of Gandhi's 'negative identity, that
is, of everything in himself which he tried to isolate and subdue and which yet
was part of him.' This is a far more convincing view: it also provides a clue to
Gandhi's strong impulse to reform those coming in close contact with him
and, linked with it, his inherent urge to purify himself and discover his latent
powers through a ceaseless process of self-examination. Now that he was
on the path of finding his true identity both concerning his vocation and the
deeper meaning of life, Mehtab was dispensable. Providentially, the occasion
to get rid of him arose at the right moment. Gandhi's disengagement from
this friendship which had subsisted so long against all odds, was an important
milestone in his life. Even Mehtab, shocked by his ouster from Gandhi's
household changed. He was employed by an Indian merchant. Afew years
later he was to be among Gandhi's devoted followers.

* * *

Thanks to his continued search for the divine truth, the promptings
of his inner self had become more resonant. No more did he need any
defence mechanism in meeting his Christian friends, still anxious to light
in his heart the candle of their own religion. In Durban this covenant of
grace was taken on by Spencer Walton, Director of the South African
General Mission. Both he and his wife were extremely nice persons.
Fascinated by their piety, endearing manner, humility and tolerance, in no
time Gandhi became another member of their family. He never encountered
any overt attempt on their part to draw him into the Christian fold. Whenever the

FINDS HIS MOORINGS

subject of religion came up for discussion, it would be evident that there
were fundamental differences between their viewpoints. But this did not disturb
their friendship.

Another Christian family with whom Gandhi came in contact at Durban
was that of Mr. O. J. Askew, a local lawyer who was also a keen evange-list.
In his company, Gandhi regularly attended the Wesleyan church for some
time, but was not much impressed by the congregation there or those who
delivered the sermons. He often went to the Askews for dinner. The lady of
the house was quite simple and warm-hearted, but somewhat intolerant.
Gandhi did not fail to understand her concern when, under his influence,
her five-year-old son began to show preference for vegetarian items of food.
Ratner than see Mrs. Askew fret inwardly, he would have liked to stop his
visits, which unfortunately came about only after an unpleasant conversation
between them. Nevertheless, Gandhi's friendliness with Mr. Askew remained
unaffected.

During this period, Gandhi's preoccupation with professional and
political work did not leave him as much scope for religious studies as had
been the case at Pretoria. His intimate relationship with the Waltons, however,
kept alive his interest in the subject and he devoted whatever time
he could find to reading a few selected books. He read with good care Max
Mueller's book, India — What Can It Teach Us. He also studied an English
translation of the Upanishads. Another book concerning Hindu religion that
he read with deep interest was Narmadashankar's Dharma Vichar. These
readings further enhanced his respect for Hinduism, without giving rise to any
prejudice against other religions. Yet he was eager to understand them as
much as his own faith. To know more about Islam, he studied the writings of
Washington Irving and Carlyle on Prophet Mohammed. To acquaint himself
with the Zoroastrian faith, he read a book which contained the sayings of
Zarathushtra. The knowledge thus gained helped him in his introspections to
chalk out for himself a way of life suited to his vision. Religion for him had
already come to mean more than a maze of rituals. Not much bothered about
problems concerning theology or fundamentalist articles of faith, he was eager
to build up a code of ethics that could serve as a practical guide. He had tried
to achieve it by unifying the precepts of the Bhagavad Gita , the Sermon on
the Mount and the teachings of Buddha. In attempting it, Gandhi had been
largely inspired by Edward Maitland's writings.

He had been first drawn to Edward Maitland's ideas during his
Pretoria spell. The spiritual affinity between them, strengthened by their
continued correspondence, flowered into Gandhi's close association with
the Esoteric Christian Union (E.C.U.) at Durban. This movement, started
by Maitland in 1 891 , had picked up much of its substance from the moral
and religious enunciations contained in the books written by him. The
•system of thought on which this Union was founded had gone a long way
toward establishing the underlying unity between different religions —
Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism in particular. This was one aspect of the

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

movement for which Gandhi had developed a strong fascination. For about
a year he was the moving spirit behind its extension to certain parts of South
Africa. He participated in promoting the Brotherhood and its maxims so actively
that his letter-head during this period carried an inscription describing him as
an Agent for the Esoteric Christian Union. Abstinence, self-restraint, voluntary
poverty, prayer, meditation and vegetarianism — these guiding principles of
the Brotherhood were in Gandhi's view the key to initiation of a Golden Age.

The spirit of renunciation and austerity that Gandhi had imbibed under
the influence of the E.C.U. motivated him for a visit to a Trappist monastery
at Mariann Hill near Pine Town — a small village in a valley surrounded by a
cluster of hills. This settlement of vegetarian missionaries, with the monks
and nuns engaged in training the native children as well as adults for various
crafts, left an indelible impression on Gandhi's mind. There was nothing like
colour prejudice at that place. The missionaries were almost all Germans.
Instead of making any attempt to impose their own language on the converts,
they provided them facilities to learn reading and writing English and Zulu.
The colony had a printing press, a flour mill and a contrivance to extract
vegetable oil. The settlers produced practically everything they needed. What
Gandhi saw there guided him in his later experiments in community living.

Raychandbhai still had the pride of place among Gandhi's mentors,
as far as spiritual matters were concerned. Though he did not accept all that
he had put forward, correspondence with him was his last refuge when he
was assailed by doubts of any kind. He also continued to study Tolstoy
with unabated interest. The inspiration from that source gradually infused the
seeker in Gandhi with increasing concern about social and moral
problems.

NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS

After Gandhi had decided to pitch himself in Durban, his thoughts and
those of the leading Indian merchants there turned to the question of getting
up a long-term plan of action. They could see that Whitehall was not going to
help unless there was sufficient pressure of public opinion from all sides. It
was, therefore, necessary to create an awareness of the problem in England,
India and South Africa. For this purpose they required an organization more
efficient and enterprising than the Indian Committee contrived in 1 891 . At first
Gandhi had consultations with Sheth Abdulla and some other friends. Soon
thereafter they had a genera! meeting in which a large number of Indians
participated. Abdulla Haji Adam, who had been a key member of the Indian
Committee, played an active role in these deliberations. There was complete
unanimity on the proposal except for a little hitch about the name to be given
to the new body. Gandhi had known something about the Indian National
Congress. He was also aware what the British conservatives thought of it and
how they would react to a parallel outfit coming up in the Colony. After much
thinking, he and his associates came to the conclusion that they need not
fight shy of adopting a similar name. Accordingly, the new body was called
Natal Indian Congress and it was launched on August 22, 1894 with Abdulla
Haji Adam as President and Gandhi as Honorary Secretary. The exuberance
with which the constitution of the Congress was approved by all those present
in the spacious room on the first floor of Dada Abdulla's, packed to capacity,
would have lingered in the memory of every participant.

The Indians in Natai at last had an organizational apparatus with its
declared aim to work for their moral, social and political uplift, to strive for
removal of their hardships or alleviation of their sufferings and to assist the
poor and helpless amongst them . The Congress was also meant to promote
concord and harmony among Indians and Europeans residing in the Colony,
to disseminate in India adequate information about the condition of those
who had migrated to Natal and to encourage the latter to study the history of
India and other literature relating to that country. It was a great event in every
sense, though it was reported by the Press in an ordinary way. Gandhi himself
was not in favour of giving the matter much publicity until the Congress was
able to stand firmly on its feet.

If the Congress was to perform its assigned role it needed adequate
financial resources. The subscription was fixed at a high level of five

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

shillings per month. The members who were able to pay more were, however,
encouraged to subscribe as much as they could. Two members undertook to
pay £2 per month. Gandhi himself put in one pound per month and a good
number of the members followed suit. Similarly a few others agreed to pay
ten shillings a month. Seventy-six members paid their subscriptions on the
spot. A small number made some instant donations too.

With that encouraging start, many more persons came forward to join
the Congress. Gradually the membership rose to 228, almost all drawn from
the economically well-off sections of the community — 85 percent from the
merchant class and 12 percent from other white-collar occupations. The initial
upsurge, however, did not last very long. In course of time, the collection of
subscriptions became an arduous task that could be done only because of
extraordinary zeal on the part of certain enthusiastic members. It was not
easy to reach distant villages and townships in the interior. Occasionally
long tours were undertaken by the volunteers, with Gandhi himself participating
in the drive to enrol members, collect subscriptions and raise funds. To simplify
things, the payment of subscription after some time was made annual instead
of monthly and the minimum was fixed at £3 to be paid in advance. Despite
all efforts by the managing committee, there were some who did not pay the
subscriptions in time. The policy adopted was to strike off from the membership
register the names of serious defaulters as also those who did not attend six
consecutive meetings.

The Congress committee met once a month, or even at shorter intervals
if necessary. The meetings invariably had an atmosphere of high seriousness.
The agenda covered questions of immediate concern to the Indian community
and a review of current events in which the Congress was directly or indirectly
interested. A proper record of the proceedings was maintained. Members
were encouraged to participate in the deliberations. Some of them who had
never been used to speaking before an audience gradually acquired the ability
to take active part in the discussions. The Congress valued the goodwill of a
few Europeans who had genuine interest in the welfare of Indian settlers. So
they too were invited whenever the Congress met, though only one amongst
them, O.J. Askew, having close personal contact with Gandhi, attended the
meetings. At a later stage it turned out to be an act of great wisdom.

In building up the Natal Congress, Gandhi displayed an exceptional
organizing ability. Ayoung educated person working in the midst of very
seasoned businessmen could have found himself in trouble with the
slightest indiscretion. His modest and unassuming manner was so
appealing that no one would easily misunderstand him. More than that,
so deep was his devotion to the cause with which he was associated
that whatever he said or did was viewed in the right spirit. Even if there
was an odd person inclined to resent Gandhi's growing influence, he
could not have easily impaired the spirit of understanding that he had
generated around him. .

NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS

The common pitfall in such organizations is lack of adequate care
in the accountal of funds collected and expenses incurred. Gandhi was
by nature extremely fastidious in looking after this part of his responsibility.
He saw to it that every penny was clearly accounted for. An elaborate
explanation for a discrepancy of six pence in the statement of income
and expenditure of the Congress forming part of its first annual report
stands as a monumental reminder of Gandhi's meticulous attention to the
maintenance of accounts. This is not all. He also saw to it that every
farthing drawn out of the Congress funds was spent with the maximum
care. He was dead opposed to any kind of waste. All paper was used on
both sides and whatever part of it did not have to be preserved was utilized
for pasting press clippings to be piled up in the scrap books.

With the minimum subscription for membership pegged at £ 3 per
annum, the Congress did not attract to its ranks the low-income class of
Indians, further confirming concentration of its control in the hands of affluent
Gujarati merchants. The high-reaching aims set out in its constitution
notwithstanding, the economically powerful trading class, already used to
keeping a distance from the weaker elements, continued to have a strong
tendency to concern itself more with its sectional interests than the good of
the community as a whole. Gandhi, on his part, because of involvement in
the traders' legal work and also his contact with them at the social level, had
during the early stages a better understanding of their problems than those of
the indentured labourers. His acquaintance with the difficulties of the latter
developed gradually, the starting point having been provided by a few individual
cases that came up during his professional work. This explains why it was
not easy for him, at least in the short run, to bring off the right kind of balance
in the functioning of the Congress as to the relative priority of issues affecting
different sections of the community. This chink in young Gandhi's armour,
resulting from the given circumstances, is easily understandable. But it would
certainly be wrong to suggest that, during the early phase of his participation
in the Natal Congress affairs, his position was that of a 'hired representative'
of the Indian commercial elite. If he received retainer fees from the leading
merchants, it was for the work undertaken by him as their lawyer. His political
activity was entirely in the nature of voluntary public service.

Another affliction from which the Natal Congress politics suffered
was linked to the universally experienced long-lasting mutual distrust between
the original inhabitants of, and the successive legions of other people
migrating into countries where multiracial societies are ultimately formed.
The leadership of the body being talked of was at this early stage stricken
by an almost cureless obsession about the Indians' superiority over the
South African blacks. It was on all fours with a widely rampant antipathy on
the part of the latter against immigrants from India. The prickliness of

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

this two-way non-acceptance was not softened even by the hard reality that
in the white colonists' ruling class they had a common adversary. This tortuous
theme continued for a long time, In one form or the other, to cast its shadow
on the style in which the Indians repeatedly put forward their case for the
minimum rights of citizenship which, they could see with complete unconcern,
the European settlers had denied to the Africans in their own land. Deeply
conscious that they themselves had come from a highly civilized country, the
Indians often gave vent to their bitterness about the treatment meted out to
them in South Africa because it was as bad as or sometimes worse than that
extended to the native Africans, without realising how incongruous such
whimpers could be.* Gandhi, as an organizing secretary, not only went along
with this infraction for a number of years, but also lent added strength to it by
echoing time and again his dismay at the South African authorities' inability
to recognize the cultural disparity between the native population and those
who had come from India. As far as this matter was concerned, his thinking
in the early South Africa years was very different from the truly Gandhian
standpoint he developed after 1 906. Probably it had something to do with the
fact that during his three years in England he had not opened himself up to
the currents and cross-currents of liberal and radical thinking that had already
held sway over many of his Indian contemporaries. Not having imbibed those
ideas early enough, he was to take some time to evolve an eminently catholic
social outlook before he could perceive South Africa's racial problem in the
right perspective.

***

Danger can at times raise its head all of a sudden like a snake
hidden in the grass. In August 1 895, Captain Lucas, Resident Magistrate
of Durban, tried a case brought against four Indians for having assaulted
another Indian Mooroogaswamy Piilai. From the proceedings it was clear
that there was hardly any evidence against the accused. The only person
who appeared as a witness had not corroborated the allegation regarding
assault. He had only heard the persons concerned shouting at each other.
Just a day before the final hearing, one Mohammed Ibrahim Asgar (Asgara),
an ex-member of the Natal Indian Congress, was summoned as

* Even before the Natal Congress had come into being, in the petition dated June 29, 1894
submitted by the Indian deputation to the Natal Prime Minister (CWMG Vol.l, p. 99) it had
been emphasized: 'if we have understood the Bill rightly, the Indians would, in the event of
its becoming law, rank lower than the lowest native.' Again in the second petition of July
6,1894 to the Natal Legislative Council (ibid., p. 109), the Indians had taken exception to
the argument put forward on behalf of the Government that if Indian British subjects were
to be treated equally with the Europeans, the same treatment would have to be accorded to
the other British subjects, e.g., the natives of the Colony. Behind this whole approach there
was a commonly held belief among the Indians, including Gandhi, that they, as much as the
Anglo-Saxons, belonged to the ancient Aryan stock and their forefathers had dwelt to¬
gether in Central Asia (ibid., pp. 149-50).

NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS

a State witness. He deposed before the magistrate that he had been called
by some persons, including three members of the Congress, to a place
where Rangaswamy Padayachi questioned him if he intended to give evidence
in support of Mooroogaswamy Pillai. From what transpired there he concluded
that they did not want him to make his appearance in the court in favour of
the complainant. He also alleged that Padayachi had tried to intimidate him
with threats. With extraordinary promptness the magistrate delivered his
judgment convicting all the accused persons. On the basis of Asgara's
unsupported statement he had come to the conclu-sion that the Natal
Congress was also involved in the case and had tried to shield the defendants.

The convicted persons went in appeal to the Supreme Court. In the
meantime proceedings were started against Rangaswamy Padayachi for
interference with the course of justice. Captain Lucas took special care to
get this appendant casein his own hand. Padayachi felt perplexed and sought
Gandhi's help. The latter agreed to assist his counsel Mr. Miller in the capacity
of a lawyer. Accordingly he made himself present in the court when the case
came up for hearing. The moment Captain Lucas saw Gandhi taking notes,
he sharply asked him if it was his case to which the latter replied in the
negative. At a subsequent hearing, when the magistrate again found him
noting down something and helping Mr. Miller, he bawled out: 'Mr. Gandhi,
why are you without robes? Are you Mr. Miller's clerk or is there some other
reason why you find it necessary to do that?' Mr. Miller interjected: 'Is there
any harm in Mr. Gandhi doing clerk's work for me?’ The magistrate at once
remarked: 'I can see through it perfectly well.'

Incidentally Captain Lucas was the same magistrate in response to
whose behest Gandhi had not taken off his turban on his first visit to a South
African court just after his arrival from India, (p. 23) The flutter the earlier
incident had caused was nothing compared to the heat generated on this
occasion. The Press was resounding with an outcry for flaying the Con¬
gress. The Natal Witness accused it of countenancing perjury. It also raised
an alarm about'the more crafty of the Indians fomenting discontent amongst
the natives.' Gandhi did not like to give rejoinders so long as the case was
sub judice. One thing he could not ignore was an insinuation by the Natal
Advertiser that the Congress had been operating as a secret body. In this
connection he drew attention to the fact that its organizers had even invited a
few Europeans either to join it or attend its meetings. Nevertheless, some of
the whites continued to indulge in tongue-lashing. Their attacks were specially
aimed at berating Gandhi.

This continuing vilification and all that happened at the hearings of the
Padayachi case, instead of dispiriting the Indians, strengthened their
determination to protect themselves. They became aware of the fact that a
grim and long struggle was in store for them. No one was surprised when on
October 2, Captain Lucas delivered his judgment. While convicting the
defendant and sentencing him to six months' imprisonment with hard
labour, he made strong condemnatory remarks against the Natal Indian

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Congress. He accused it of having extended its sphere of activity beyond
political purposes and 'using its influence and power, to interfere with and
thwart the ends of justice.' He went to the extent of saying: the Indian
Congress is of the nature of an association of conspiracy, pernicious and
fraught with danger to the whole community in this Colony of whatever
race.' Rangaswamy Padayachi immediately filed a revision petition with the
Supreme Court. The judgment as it stood was a serious threat to the very
existence of the Natal Congress. The Press seized it at once and used it
as a hangman's rope.

The Natal Witness asked for a rigorous enquiry into the matter and
suggested that if anything approaching the allegations made during
Padayachi's trial was proved, the Congress ought to be broken up without
delay, and its members punished as severely as the law allowed. It also
proposed that the Law Society should demand Gandhi's explanation of his
connection with the Congress and that his alma mater in London should be
informed of all the circumstances of the case and asked to investigate it. A
correspondent of the South African Telegraph savagely criticised the Indians,
their sneaking nature and their penchant for 'secret intrigues,
conspiracies and traitorous attacks' on the authority to which they pretended
calmly to submit. Gandhi himself was the target of the most rancorous tirade.
Described as a 'wily interpreter', a 'paid agitator', he was specially frowned
upon because Hindus and Muslims, at daggers drawn in their own country,
had come so close together in Natal. Someone reporting about his promise
to the Indian community that he would obtain for them three more barristers
from India, had exclaimed: 'What will Natal then come to!'.

The judgment, in which the Natal Congress had been denounced,
being under appeal, Gandhi did not fee! free to hit back in reply to the most
provocative abuse. He, however, was conscious that keeping completely
quiet may also not be prudent. What worried him was the situation that
might arise if the Supreme Court did not fully deai with the magistrate's
condemnatory remarks against the Congress and glossed over them as
obiter dicta. After giving the matter careful thought, Gandhi in his capacity
as Honorary Secretary of the Natal Indian Congress addressed a letter to
Natal's Colonial Secretary, putting forward a lucid exposition of the whoie
case with the help of evidence as had been reported by the Press. The crux
of his argument was that the Congress never sent for Asgara or any other
person to prevent him from giving evidence and that the magistrate had
absolutely no grounds for making the remarks contained in his judgment.
He concluded the letter with a request that if the Government was satisfied
that the Congress had nothing to do with the case in question it should
make a public notification of the fact; and if on the other hand there was still
any doubt it should institute an inquiry.

Soon after this letter had been sent, the Supreme Court delivered its
judgment on the appeal against conviction of four persons who had been
punished for the alleged assault on Mooroogaswamy Pillai. Not only was

NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS

the conviction set aside, the Supreme Court judgement contained severe
strictures against the magistrate. A month later Rangaswamy Padayachi's
conviction was also quashed by the Supreme Court. So the Congress found
itself out of the wood. The outcome of the cases got wide publicity. The
Congress not only became better known, it acquired an aura that it did not
have before passing through this ordeal. Gandhi himself rose high in the
estimation of his countrymen in Natal.

Some among the Europeans were discerning enough to understand
the significance of these happenings. They felt that Indians would no more be
content to remain in a position of servile dependence on them. The white
colonists as a class, however, were not prepared to get reconciled to this
change. The whole thing deepened the misgivings of the Natal whites who
saw before them a more ominous threat to their dominant position.

MAN OF LAW

The tenacity with which the Law Society of Natal opposed Gandhi's
application to the Supreme Court for enrolment as an advocate and its
inglorious defeat had exposed the fraternity of white legal practitioners to a
good deal of censure by the Press. On the other hand, Gandhi became the
subject of much admiration by some people who were earlier prejudiced against
him. One of the newspapers referred to the possibility that he might one day
become a judge in Natal and even get elected as a member of the Legislature
with the help of his countrymen. Thanks to such favourable publicity gained
by him, the handicap with which he was to start his law practice as a non¬
white was overcome to a large extent.

A few days later Gandhi made his first appearance in a civil suit filed
on behalf of his client Sheth Abdulla for a claim of £263 against Gopi Maharaj
in the court of Assistant Resident Magistrate. When this case concluded
with the court admitting the claim with costs, it received more than ordinary
attention from various quarters. This was solely due to the standing that
Gandhi had acquired in the Colony's public life. It did not take him long to
establish his reputation at the Natal Bar. Thorough-going and meticulous as
a matter of habit, he took extraordinary pains to study every case. He earned
the esteem of his colleagues as much as that of the magistrates and judges
who had come to respect him for clarity of thought and expression, legal
acumen and intellectual vigour.

A legal encounter that Gandhi had with Sir Walter Wragg, one of the
Supreme Court judges, early in 1895, became a topic of keen public interest
It was a case of apportionment of one Hassanji Dawji's assets after he died
intestate. Gandhi was nominated to frame a plan of distribution according to
the Islamic law. When he submitted his report, Sir Walter confirmed it as far as
the widow’s entitlement was concerned, but did not approve the part pertaining
to the shares that were to go to the deceased's children and brother. Commenting
about it, the judge made an overly unguarded remark questioning Gandhi's
knowledge of Muslim Law. In the discussion that ensued, the judge put himself
into a tight spot by saying that, as a Hindu, Gandhi knew his own religion but
not the Mohammedan Law. The fact was that the young Indian barrister had
carefully studied the Islamic Law in so far as it pertained to inheritance. Quoting
chapter and verse from the Holy Book and authentic commentaries, he
showed that the plan of distribution as made by him was good in law. He

MAN OF LAW

reminded Sir Walter that the best book on Mohammedan Law had been
edited by a non-Muslim. Most people in Natal legal circles agreed that in this
skirmish Gandhi had had the better of Sir Walter. The Muslim population of
the Colony who had special interest in the issue felt much impressed with
the fight put up by Gandhi.

Later in a case of insolvency, Gandhi found himself pitched against
R.H. Tatham, as important an Attorney as a member of the Natal Assembly.
Having failed to carry his point, the latter made everyone in the court laugh by
conceding in good humour: 'Gandhi's supreme ... the triumph of black over
white again.'

The way Gandhi argued before the judges was typical of him. Free
from heat and passion, he scrupulously avoided oral aggression and relied
entirely on facts and reasoning. It was his habit not to hide any flaw in the
brief. In presenting the case he liked to reveal the whole truth. The frankness
with which he would admit a weak point gave him added strength to put
things in perspective and focus attention on critical issues which generally
determined the outcome of a legal dispute. Many a time, Gandhi's
commitment to scrupulous honesty came under severe test. This is best
illustrated by a case about which he reminisced at length many years later.
It was a major civil suit for which Gandhi had appeared as a junior counsel.
The accounts tangle around which the whole case revolved was referred by
the court for arbitration. The award had gone in favour of Gandhi's client.
The arbitrators, however, had in their calculations made an important entry
in the credit column whereas it should have been on the debit side. This
mistake had come to Gandhi's notice but not to that of the opponents who
contested the award on other grounds. There was a difference of opinion
between Gandhi and the senior counsel whether the error should be
voluntarily accepted or not. The latter was firmly of the view that it must not
be admitted. Gandhi, on the other hand, vehemently argued in favour of
accepting it. The senior counsel warned that by doing so they would open
up the possibility of the award being cancelled, to be followed by many
more complications. The client was present when this argument was going
on and the two lawyers were not agreeing with each other. Finding that
there was no meeting-point in sight, the senior counsel put it across: 'Well
then, will you handle the case? I'm not prepared to argue it on your terms.'
Gandhi answered in all humility: 'So, you will not argue. I am prepared to do
that if our client so desires. I shall have nothing to do with the case if the
error is not admitted.' Having said this, he looked at the client. The latter
appeared a little embarrassed. His complete trust in Gandhi was at once
reflected in his spontaneous reply: 'I do not mind if you argue the case and
admit the error. Let us lose, if that is so ordained. God'll defend the right.'

Gandhi was not sure if he would be able to argue this complex case
before the Supreme Court satisfactorily. He was rather nervous when he
appeared before the Bench. The moment he referred to the error in calculations,
one of the judges made a sarcastic remark which Gandhi repulsed

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

with his characteristic politeness and went on to explain the discrepancy in
full detail. He could convince the judges that this mistake, made entirely due
to inadvertence, could be easily rectified and, therefore, did not warrant
cancellation of the award as such. When the opposing counsel argued to the
contrary, one of the judges remarked: 'Supposing Mr. Gandhi had not admitted
the error, what would you have done?' Overruling the objections, the court
confirmed the award subject to rectification of the mistake in question.
Gandhi's conclusion: 'I was delighted. So were my client and senior counsel;
and I felt confirmed in my conviction that it was not impossible to practise law
without compromising truth.' Truth was the only touchstone by which he
judged his duty toward his client and the court. According to him the greatest
wrong a lawyer could commit in the process of law was to be a party to the
miscarriage of justice.

Gandhi's entire approach to the legal profession was based on the above
principle. Having framed his rules of the game, he observed them unsparingly.
In his autobiography, he has specially portrayed the case of Parsi Rustomji
who was not only his client but a friend also. Engaged in import of merchandise
from India, he would from time to time resort to smuggling as well, to save on
customs duty. The malpractice had gone on for a long time. When at last the
offence was detected, it was about goods of trifling value. Finding himself in
serious trouble, Rustomji came running to Gandhi, little realising what he could
have expected of him. The good friend, more like a priest than a lawyer, said
soothingly: 'To save or not to save you is in His hands. As to me you know my
way; I can but try to save you by means of confession.'

Rustomji : But is not my confession before you enough?

Gandhi : You have wronged not me but Government. How will the

confession made before me avail you?

At Rustomji's insistence, Gandhi went with him to his old counsel
whose response was that of a typical lawyer. After a bit of dawdling, Rustomji
gave himself up to what Gandhi thought proper even though the latter had
clearly stated that if he failed in his efforts to obtain an administrative decision
from the Customs Officer and the Attorney-General regarding the fine payable
by him on the basis of his forthright confession, he should be prepared to go
to jail. The best part of it was that Gandhi did succeed in having the case
closed with the imposition of a small penalty on Rustomji.

***

Besides handling the cases of his well-to-do clients Gandhi very soon
felt impelled to devote a part of his time to helping the down-and-out amongst
Indians by taking in hand their legal or extra-legal work. For such assistance,
he did not expect or receive any payment. This was a manifestation

MAN OF LAW

of his deep-laid desire for serving the oppressed and the poor, badly in need
of help.

He had been in practice for a few months when one day he had before
him in his office a poor Tamilian in tatters, his turban taken off and soaked
wet with blood, his mouth bleeding, two front teeth knocked off and
protruding through the ruptured upper lip. With both his hands folded in
supplication, trembling and weeping, he said that he had been belaboured by
his master. Gandhi's clerk, who was also a Tamilian, acted as an interpreter
and enabled him to obtain full facts. Balasundaram — that was his name —
was an indentured labourer serving a European family residing in Durban. His
master, enraged for some reason, had beaten him mercilessly. The victim of
this brutality, having heard of Gandhi, had come to him for help. He immediately
sent him to a medical practitioner to obtain a certificate as to the nature of
his injuries. Luckily the European doctor he went to was a conscientious
person. Having got his certificate, Gandhi took Balasundaram to the magistrate
who was deeply moved by his pitiable condition. He was sent to the hospital
for treatment. His turban, however, was kept in the court as an exhibit.
Discharged after a few days, he again came to Gandhi's office. At first he was
keen for action to be taken against his master and his indenture to be
terminated. Gandhi asked him if transfer to another employer would satisfy
him to which he agreed. Gandhi had to go about it through the Protector of
Indian Immigrants. The latter was more concerned about the whims and
fancies of the European employer who agreed to spare Balasundaram, soon
to go back on it when his wife objected. The poor wretch was persuaded to
sign a document in which it was stated that he had no complaint to make.
Gandhi felt shocked at the Protector's attitude. Balasundaram was still after
him to secure his transfer for which Gandhi brought further pressure on the
Protector as well as the employer, but it was of no avail. As a last resort, he
took the aggrieved person again to the magistrate who was simply furious
and summoned the master. Even now Gandhi did not want to have him punished
and offered to withdraw the complaint if he would agree to release the man for
transfer. The magistrate, holding the employer guilty of taking the law into his
hand, remarked that if he did not avail of the offer made to him the
consequences would be serious. Faced with this warning, he gave his consent
to Balasundaram's transfer. The Protector was still not helpful. Instead of
moving in the matter himself, he left it to Gandhi to find another European
employer. He had a word with his friend O.J. Askew who was glad to take
Balasundaram in his keep. When the latter came to Gandhi's office to thank
him, seeing the man with his scarf in hand, he felt very sad. He immediately
persuaded him to wear it on his head. The poor man did it with great hesitation,
not unmixed with joy. Gandhi wondered what the white man gained by
subjecting the poor labourers to the inhu-man practice whereunder they were
expected to take off their head-dress — whether it was a cap, a turban or a
scarf wrapped round the head — when visiting a European.

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

What happened in Balasundaram's case soon became known all over
the Colony. The fact that someone was there to help them brought the
indentured Indians a sense of security. The aggrieved among them now looked
up to Gandhi for succour. He, in turn, felt impelled to further study the various
enactments pertaining to indentured labour. In this process he became more
alive to the fact that the Natal Congress had to do something about their
problems. This was the beginning of a somewhat changed orientation in
Gandhi's attitude toward the different sections of the Indian community. Placed
as he was just then, he did not have enough first-hand knowledge of the
conditions under which the indentured labourers lived and worked at the
plantations.

***

The Natal Government Railway had on its work-force a large number
of indentured labourers from India. Their lot was no better than that of others.
To make things worse, they were maligned by the white Press until Gandhi
got acquainted with their difficulties and came to their rescue. In April-May
1 895 some of these labourers were involved in an altercation with the police.
The trouble arose out of orders issued by the railway authorities, as a measure
of economy, that instead of firewood they should be given coal against their
fuel quota. Unable to burn it without some wood, they would look for it wherever
they could find some bits and pieces and help themselves. One day an
African constable took them to task for doing so. It was later alleged that a
few Indians turned round with sticks and thrashed him. A European police
official then went to the scene, arrested the men without further resistance
on their part and prosecuted them. The Protector of Immigrants on this
occasion, surprisingly enough, was a little sympathetic toward the workmen
and contended that they had a genuine problem. Otherwise too, there were
many holes in the case framed against them. Nevertheless, the magistrate
held them guilty of 'taking that which they had no right to take, and afterwards
behaving improperly to the police.' But he thought it proper to add that they
had been labouring under an enormous grievance. His concluding order was:
They have been treated as badly as the Jews of ancient times, when they
were made to obey the Pharoah's orders and make bricks without straw. I am
not going to give them any punishment whatever, and they can go.'

The Natal Advertiser tried to make capital even out of this case for
running down the labourers in question. Gandhi defended them forcefully
against this broadside, asserting that the allegations made were without any
basis and did not even take into account what had been stated by the relevant
witnesses in the court. He deplored that the facts in the reports of this paper
should often be 'mis-stated or exaggerated ... much to the disadvantage of
the Indian community.' The paper felt obliged to publish Gandhi's statement
along with an apologetic note explaining its own position.

***

MAN OF LAW

In the month of June, the same year, 255 labourers of the Natal
Government Railway absented themselves from work in connection with a
dispute about their rations. They were entitled to one-and-a-half-pounds of
rice per day. Three times a week they could be given 2 lbs. of maize or meal
in place of rice. With rice as their staple, they did not like to have maize or
meal. When issue of maize or meal on the aforesaid basis was forced on
them, they got together and went to the Protector of Immigrants. While no
attention was paid to their grievance, they were detained and charged with
contravention of the law according to which leaving work in this manner was
a punishable offence. Gandhi appeared on behalf of the labourers. Straightaway
he asked for adjournment for about a week so that a settlement could be
effected. This was not agreed to by the magistrate. The workers were held
guilty and fined one shilling each with an option of three days' imprisonment.

In the meantime a settlement was negotiated by Gandhi with the railway
administration whereby the workers would in future receive 8 lbs. of meal
instead of 6 for three non-rice days in a week. This understanding was fair
enough. When the workers, who had been convicted, refused to pay the fine
and chose to spend three days in jail, Gandhi advised them to rethink about
it. The central issue relating to their entitlement of rations had been settled to
their satisfaction. The harshness of section 101 of the Indian Immigration Act
(1891), violation of which had led to their conviction, was a separate matter
and, if they wished to fight it out, it would be prudent to take it up separately
after meeting all the requirements of law. The labourers felt convinced and
returned to work on payment of the fine.

The manner in which the convicted labourers initially refused to pay
the fine and preferred going to jail had in a way presaged the coming events.
The fact that they were amenable to reason was a healthy sign. It is not
surprising that the General Manager of the Natal Government Railway thanked
Gandhi for the part he had played in bringing about a settlement.

Some of the cases that came to Gandhi related to the harassment
to which Indian immigrants were put under the Vagrancy Law that prohibited
a coloured person from leaving his house after 9 p.m. unless he held a
valid pass or could give a satisfactory account of his identity. The indentured
Indians who became free on completion of their contract service and their
descendants were covered by this law. But Indians who had come to
Natal on their own were outside its purview. In actual operation of the law,
much was left to the discretion of the police. The Gujarati traders, popularly
known as Arabs, could be recognized from their flowing Indian dress. It
was not possible, however, to distinguish all 'passenger immigrants' as
Indians, other than indentured, were called. The way the police officials
dealt with different cases was not always fair. In effect, many a time persons
who were not really subject to this noxious law were heckled and

GANDHS — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

hounded. Gandhi successfully defended some of the persons charged for
transgressing this law. He felt that winning court cases alone would not
solve the problem and, therefore, beseeched the police To be a little more
humane. This appeal did not have any effect on the Police Superintendent
who had been piqued by the court imposing a fine on a constable in one of
the cases for having manhandled an Indian holding the necessary pass.
Gandhi had made It a point to bring issues of this nature in the public eye
by writing to the Press. In one particular case, the incensed Police
Superintendent himself gave an ex parte version to the Press, making it
appear as if the judgment given by the magistrate was unwarranted. The
two young Indians who had been charged in that instance were dubbed as
'young upstarts’. Gandhi pursued this matter to its bitter end and was
successful in evoking public sympathy for the defendants. The Police
Superintendent was put to considerable embarrassment in this whole affair.
He ultimately realised that it was no good crossing swords with Gandhi.
The latter on his part had also felt that the zealous police officer (Alexander)
had beneath his untempered exterior a kind heart. Gradually Alexander and
Gandhi came to know each other intimately whereafter there was complete
understanding between them.

Gandhi’s standing as a lawyer in the eyes of his countrymen in Natal
continued to grow alongside his recognition as an indefatigable Secretary of
their Congress. Although a part of his professional work had over time become
love's labour, with the income he received from his normal practice he was
able to effect adequate saving for remittance to his brother and yet maintain
himself in reasonable comfort, simultaneously managing to spare enough
time for public work. What appears more important is the part played by his
success as a lawyer in helping him build up his self-confidence. He had at
last proved his mettle in the very field in which he had faced the greatest
failure of his early youth. It was an accomplishment, not merely in the material
sense: he had been able to bring high moral values to bear on the pursuit of
a profession that had become notorious for its practitioners having scant
regard for the code of conduct laid down for them. He had proved to the
people around him that a lawyer could succeed without resorting to unethical
practices. He had refused to lean on manipulated evidence, tutored witnesses,
legal loopholes or procedural technicalities in order to win cases even when
he knew that the opponents were taking recourse to these devices. He had
gained such a reputation for personal integrity among the judges that he
would always be given a carefulhearing even though he did not have a normal
lawyer's gift of the gab.

A profoundly perceptive man of law, Gandhi did all he could to
discourage litigation which in large measure was, according to him, used
as a weapon by the more powerful to crush those who were weak. This
approach on his part was rooted in his strong sense of deference toward
his own conscience which was slowly becoming the sole arbiter of his
conduct. It is this trait of character that ultimately led Gandhi to question the

MAN OF LAW

authority of temporal laws that did not conform to the will of God and
clearly involved injustice to those sections of society who could not influence
the process of law-making.

EARNEST PETITIONER

The Natal whites' reaction to continuous increase of Indian
population in the Colony was one of near panic. The ministry that came
into power in October 1 893 on establishment of responsible government
had proceeded with unseemly haste to prepare the ground for fresh
legislation pertaining to the immigration of indentured labour from India.
A deputation comprising Sir Henry Binns and H.L. Mason was in Calcutta
by the middle of January 1 894 to bring the Government of India round to
certain changes in the terms of indenture. The Natal Government had
aimed at prolongation of the service to be rendered by the labourers
under indenture to the maximum extent and their compulsory repatriation
on expiry of the extended contract period, eliminating all scope for them
to settle down in the Colony as free men.

The deputation found in E.C. Buck, Government of India's Revenue
and Agriculture Secretary at that time, a convenient cat's paw. He steered
the suggestions made on behalf of the Natal Government with such dexterity
that Sir Henry Binns and his co-delegate, on conclusion of their mission,
went back home with a measure of success they could not have even
dreamt of when they came to India. The Governor-General, Lord Elgin,
supposedly acting in India's economic interest, had coolly turned his back
on the basic obligation that the labourers after having served their indenture
would be free men in all respects with rights 'no whit inferior' to those
enjoyed by the immigrants from other countries forming part of the British
Empire. Although no written agreement was made, the Government of
India gave its consent in principle to the levy of a residence tax on the
labourers who failed to return to India after their indentured service had
come to an end. The proposed impost was ultimately to be placed at £3 a
year. The main argument put forward in support of this proposition was:
without any kind of restraint on the settlement of this class of Indians in
Natal, the continued emigration to that Colony, considered necessary to
keep unemployment in the country under check, might not be possible.
At the level of income available to an indentured labourer he would for
certain find it difficult to spare £3 to purchase one year's stay in Natal as
a free man. So the Natal Government had found an indirect method of
enforcing almost compulsory repatriation, unless the labourer chose to
remain on indentured service for an indefinite time. The compensatory
benefits to be bestowed on him were: his wages would go up to

EARNEST PETITIONER

20 shillings per month in the tenth year of indenture and he would be
entitled to a free return passage to India irrespective of whether he chose
to leave Natal after the initial period of five years or on expiry of a later term.
One seemingly positive reservation put in from India's side was that the Natal
Government would on no account take criminal proceedings against a labourer
for refusal to return to his country. As a matter of fact, at the relevant time one
could not have imagined an ex-indentured Indian to be stubborn enough to
attract such action.

The understandings arrived at between the Binns-Mason deputation
and the Government of India were translated into a proposal for fresh legislation
that came before the Natal Legislative Assembly under the label of Indian
Immigration Amendment Bill in the first week of May 1 895. Simultaneously,
the Indians in Natal submitted their petition dated May 5,1 895 to the Speaker
and members of the legislature. In this petition drafted by Gandhi he had
criticised the Bill as a piece of class legislation and had argued against the
injustice involved in extending the term of indenture from five years to an
indefinite period and imposing a levy meant to drive the labourer out of the
Colony after he had finished his indenture.

One of the amendments made in the Bili at the committee stage had
the effect of substituting the words 'license fee' for 'tax'. This verbal change
could not have made the impost less painful. The alteration, in any case,
arose out of an apprehension that if the Bill was not carefully worded its
acceptance by the Home Government might become difficult.

When the Bill, after its passage by the Lower House, was introduced in
the Legislative Council, the Indians presented another petition addressed to
the President and members of that House. This time Gandhi brought in some
fresh arguments. Quoting from the Binns-Mason report, he pointed out that the
provisions made in this Bill would be a total departure, for the worse, from the
practice prevalent in the other British colonies. As a result of this legislation the
indentured labourer would be spending the best part of his life in a state of
bondage. If he had to return to India after that he would find it impossible to re¬
establish himself there and might even feel compelled to get back to Natal
under indenture. About the oppressive clause regarding the £3 license fee, the
question was raised why one particular class, and that too the most useful to
the Colony, should be singled out for such taxation. As to the fact that the
provisions made would apply only to those Indians who came to Natal after the
Bill had become law and they would know the terms under which they were
coming, it was argued that a poor person hard-pressed by poverty could scarcely
be considered a free agent when he signed the indenture.

As expected, the Bill was passed by the Council without any
opposition. The only course left for Indians was to approach Whitehall and
seek its intervention. Accordingly a memorial was addressed on August
1 1 ,1 895 to Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for Colonies. The case
Gandhi put forward this time for Her Majesty's Government to disallow the
enactment was supported by further arguments that had not been put forth in

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

the petitions submitted to the Lower and Upper Houses of the Natal legislature.
One important point made in the memorial was that the proposed measure had
its roots in the assumption that in a country where the local population was
much more than the European, settlement of Indians in large numbers was not
desirable. Anxiety on this account was baseless as there was no overcrowding
in the Colony at all. In this newly opened country there were yet 'vast tracts of
land entirely uninhabited and uncultivated.' Even the colonial administration
realised that it could not interfere with the settlement of Indian traders who did
not come to Natal under any form of agreement. Then, why should a different
treatment be meted out to indentured Indians who as British subjects were
invited to come to the Colony and whose settlement had been of great benefit
to it? The latter, by no means competitors of the Europeans, should have a
special claim on their goodwill. Not only were they indispensable as a class,
their peace-loving disposition was a well-recognized fact. That being so, would
it not be unjust to make use of such labourers as long as they could work hard
and then force them back into a state of indigence?

It appears that Gandhi had come to know about the Government of
India's line of thinking which was responsible for its acquiescence in the
proposed changes in the terms of indenture. E.C. Buck who sold the idea to
Lord Elgin had reasoned that if the labourers after rendering indentured service
returned to India it would facilitate emigration of a larger number of fresh
hands that would be a valuable avenue of employment for India's surplus
labour. On this point, Gandhi had argued that by driving the persons who had
been under indenture for some years, back to India, there could be no relief to
the overpopulated parts of India. If at all it was to make any sense, the labourers
returning to India should have enough savings to maintain themselves, which
the level of their wages in Natal did not permit.

In conclusion it was asserted that if the Colony could not put up
with the Indians wanting to settle down there, it should have all indentured
immigration to Natal stopped. This suggestion was reiterated in a separate
memorial addressed to Lord Elgin. It was pointed out to him that extension
of the indenture to an indefinite period would mean that an Indian, who
could not pay a poll-tax of £3 or return to India, must for ever remain
without freedom and without any prospect of ever improving his condition,
which would be worse than a life of semi-starvation in India, but of freedom
and among friends and relations. In order to bring pressure on the
Government of India through the Indian National Congress, Gandhi specially
wrote to Sir Pherozeshah Mehta who was at that time among the top-
ranking Indian leaders.

The Secretary of State for India, though already aware of the Viceroy
being strongly in favour of this legislation, had taken care to send the draft
Bill to the Indian Government for its opinion right at the time of its introduction
in the Natal Assembly. The authorities in India did not attempt any serious
scrutiny. The reply sent from Calcutta remained silent on all vital

EARNEST PETITIONER

aspects. What it chose to protest against was the transference of certain
powers and functions from the Protector of Immigrants to the Immigration Trust
Board, which was in the overall context no more than a peripheral issue.

On receipt of the Bill for royal assent, the Secretary of State, before
taking any decision, wrote to Lord Elgin to reconsider the matter considering
what had been stated in the petitions made by Indians in Natal against this
legislation. The Government of India did not change its mind even now. In its
reply, it made some points that only strengthened the case for the legislation
that was awaiting endorsement by the Home Government. One of its
observations was that when the emigrants settled down in a colony the savings
effected by them were retained there instead of being sent or brought back to
India. The Government, without mincing words, affirmed that the principle of
imposing a tax on Indian immigrants wishing to settle in Natal was accepted
by it after full consideration of the circumstances and it had no desire to
reconsider its decision.

In the face of such a communication from the Viceroy, the Home
Government saw no reason to disallow the legislation on its own. The future
indentured migrants to Natal had been badly let down by Lord Elgin. Joseph
Chamberlain himself was not a person to be troubled by deference to principles.
So the Indian Immigration Amendment Act received the royal assent and it
was placed on the statute book.

If there were a few Europeans not too happy about the disabilities
placed on indentured Indians by the new law, they belonged to the class of
planters in the coastal areas. The voice of this group was too feeble, as had
been demonstrated when the annual subsidy of £10,000 in aid of
Indian immigration enjoyed by the planters for a quarter of a century, was
in the previous year stopped by the new Government. Even this section could
draw some satisfaction from amendment of the Indian Immigration Trust Board
Act, 1874. All the five members of this body were now to be elected by the
employers of Indian labour, their voting rights depending on the number of
persons indentured to them. This new legislation along with some provisions in
the Indian Immigration Amendment Act, assigning to the Board much wider
functions than before, left the Indian labourers at the mercy of their employers.
A provision to the effect that the Board would take care of immigrants to the
satisfaction of the Protector was a meaningless affectation. The Government of
India had forfeited its moral authority as a guardian of Indian emigrants to Natal
to an extent that its objections even against this departure from the old
established arrangement could be disregarded without demur.

If the most oppressive acts of legislation in the history of British
colonies were to be enumerated, the Indian Immigration Amendment Law of
1 895 in Natal should rank very high on the black list. Ironically, Gandhi had to

100

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

confront the passage of so loathsome an enactment in the very first year
of his public life when he was only twenty-five. He could not have all at
once fathomed the ins and outs of the indenture system. The prominent
Indian merchants of the Colony, who primarily controlled the newly formed
Congress, were not too deeply concerned about what happened to the
hapless indentured labourers. Gandhi, its Hon. Secretary, was having at
this time to struggle for establishing himself in his practice of law. Living
and working in the midst of the Indian commercial elite, he was naturally
at this stage more conscious of their problems than those affecting the
indentured labourers. His anxiety about the latter class, stimulated by his
innate capacity for positively responding to human suffering, was to grow
in course of time. This process was to be a part of the overall expansion
of his personality. In the meantime, what could possibly be done to forestall
and scotch the Indian Immigration Amendment Act remained
unaccomplished.

The Binns-Mason delegation's report had been published towards
the dose of April 1 894. After that it should not have been difficult to visualize
what the Natal Government was aiming at and in which direction it would
most likely proceed. In any case, by mid-July Gandhi was aware* of the
fact that the Natal Government was intending to levy a residential tax on
the Indians coming under indenture and wanting to settle in the Colony on
expiry of their contract period. If just after the busy period of July and
August 1894, when all the petitions against the Franchise Amendment
Law had been submitted and the Natal Congress had been set up, Gandhi
had turned to what was brewing between the Government of India, the
Natal Government and Whitehall about a change in the terms of indenture,
he could have forcefully moved the Indian National Congress in good time.
He could also have approached Dadabhai Naoroji in England. A public
controversy raised in India and Britain at that stage would not have been
ignored by Calcutta and London. It was only to be brought home that
Natal was in need of Indian labour and it should have it on terms that were
reasonable to the labourers: as far as India was concerned, with its large
population it could do without the emigration of a few thousand persons
per year to this Colony. As it happened, the Natal Congress planned its
petitioning drive against the proposed law after the Bill had been gazetted.
No doubt, from that point onward Gandhi did put up a stout fight, but it
failed to produce the desired effect. Lord Elgin and his Government could
not at this late stage be prevented from lending active support to the
measure in question. The labourers who came from India, after the new
law was passed and brought into effect, were condemned to the most
appalling exploitation from which they could not be delivered for nearly
two decades

See para 32 of the petition to Lord Ripon dated July 17,1894. CWMG, Vol. I, pp. 116-28.

EARNEST PETITIONER

101

The Franchise Law Amendment Bill which after its passage by the
Natal legislature in July 1 894 went up to Her Majesty's Government had not
received the royal assent. Lord Ripon, Secretary of State for Colonies, was
quiet about it for some time. Sir William Wedderburn, a retired civilian from
India and now a member of Parliament, raised the issue in the House of
Commons and asked if the Bill would be disallowed on the ground that it was
retrograde in character. The non-committal reply given to him was couched in
a language that was not to the liking of the whites in Natal who were anxious
that this law should come into force without delay. Lord Ripon was known for
his sympathetic interest in the welfare of Indians. So there were rumours
afloat that the Bill would most likely be returned for amendment and as a
reaction thereto some of the whites had started thinking in terms of framing
an even more stringent law. With every month passing they were getting
increasingly tense. The Press had put into print a variety of stories. It was
commonly believed that the Bill may not have been vetoed but it had definitely
been held in abeyance, which the Home Government could do, as it was
allowed two years within which to assent or dissent to such legislation.

The position became clear with the fall of the Rosebery ministry in
June 1895. Lord Ripon was out along with other liberals. His place in the
Colonial Office was taken by Joseph Chamberlain. Within a fortnight, Natal's
Prime Minister made a statement in the Assembly according to which the
Colonial Office was going to suggest a revised Bill which would meet with the
approval of Her Majesty's Government and at the same time satisfy all parties.
A little later when an Indian deputation met the Secretary of State for Colonies,
the latter held out to Dadabhai Naoroji an assurance implying that the proposed
law disqualifying Asians as such for the voting right would be disallowed. This
news sparked off a fierce public debate in the Colony. The ministry holding
the reins of power in Natal was being taunted in various ways.

The Home Government's thinking was made known to the Natal
administration in a despatch dated September 12,1895, indicating
that the measure sent up for royal assent was open to objection in so
far as it drew no distinction between aliens and subjects of Her Majesty
or between the most ignorant and most enlightened among the people
who had come from India. In the latter class there were persons whose
position and attainments fully qualified them for all the duties and
privileges of citizenship. In Britain itself the Indians were not only
eligible for exercise of franchise but the chosen among them were
considered worthy of election to the House of Commons. At the same
time, the Secretary of State appreciated the reasons for the Natal
Government's anxiety that the destinies of the Colony should continue
to be shaped by the Anglo-Saxon race and that possibility of any
large-scale spawning of Asiatic votes should be avoided. He also
recognized the fact that the people of India did not possess
representative institutions in their own country and had never set up
any such system before they came under European influence. What he

102

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

considered proper was to devise a measure that did not involve in
common disability all Indians without exception, but provided for an
arrangement by which an Indian could free himself from this disability,
depending on his intelligence, his education and his stake in the country.

The ministry in power understood the Home Government's viewpoint.
There was no dearth of fanatics, however, who considered it a serious rebuff.
Gandhi was on guard and had taken note of their ugly mood. He thought it
necessary to make an effort to remove the irrational fears that were at the
root of the anti-Indian hysteria in evidence all around. He took great pains to
write "An Appeal to Every Briton in South Africa" in which he tried to prove
with the help of facts and figures that there was no possibility of the Indian
vote ever becoming a threat to white supremacy. It contained a careful
examination of all the arguments, put forward by various people to justify
Indians' disfranchisement. His aim was to remove the misapprehensions
caused in the course of the controversy that had been raging.

Issued on December 1 6,1 895, this eloquent appeal could not be ignored
by the Press and others interested in the fortunes of the Colony. The message
it contained was that there was something fundamentally wrong with the
prevailing attitude towards the Indian community. Many of the whites were
impressed by this document, conspicuous for its clarity, vigour, incisive
reasoning and for its freedom from rancour; and yet there were others who
felt intrigued by it and thought that Gandhi and his supporters in England had
outmanoeuvred them all.

About this time there was some change in the overall colonial scene
in South Africa as a result of which the more discerning among the European
settlers in Natal started feeling that the Colony would be placed at a
disadvantage in any future restructuring if its white population alone was
taken into account for determining its representation in a composite
parliament. In that context, by admission of more Indians to the voting
right, Natal stood to gain an advantage in the negotiations for a federal set¬
up. It also dawned on them that the disfranchisement of Indians in this
Colony was likely to work to the detriment of uitlanders in the Transvaal.
The cause of the latter was as dear to the Natalians as to Her Majesty's
Government. In this context some of the erstwhile opponents of the Indian
case for admission to franchise had come to realise how inconsistent it
was to rave against the Boers for refusing the voting right to people who
were opposed to the continued existence of their country as a Dutch republic
and at the same time to refuse in Natal even moderate concessions to
Indians who had been in many ways very useful to the Colony and who
could by no means be accused of ill-will against it.

Thus the ground was ready for a solution to the question of Indian
franchise on a more rational basis. Despite that, Natal's political leadership
had neither the wisdom nor courage to go beyond the minimum that was
necessary to meet the Home Government's objection to the earlier
legislation. It rushed through both the Houses a revised Bill which was

EARNEST PETITIONER

103

disappointing from the point of view of those who were eager to see the
Indians disfranchised as also from that of the Indians themselves, paying
little regard to another memorial addressed by the latter to the Speaker
and members of the Legislative Assembly. The proposed law in its new
form aimed at disqualifying for franchise persons 'who (not being of
European origin) are natives or descendants ... of natives, of countries
which have not hitherto possessed elective representative institutions',
unless they first obtained an order from the Natal Government, exempting
them from the operation of the Act which, of course, was not to have
retrospective effect.

All those who strongly desired that Indians in Natal must not have
rights of citizenship abhorred the ambiguous fashion in which the new law
sought to achieve this objective and feared that it had left scope for legal
battles. There were others who found in it blatant duplicity which distinguished
it from the earlier legislation. The Natal Prime Minister had himself owned
that the previous Bill was 'too direct, too blunt.' The new law had precisely the
same object in view; only it did not go about it in a straight manner. The
exemption clause was also not free from guile. It was meant to give an
impression that the power of exemption would be used to the extent justified .
Yet from the Attorney-General's statement in the Assembly it was clear that
the ministry had no intention of exercising this prerogative.*

Gandhi did not want the legislation to receive royal assent without a
voice being raised against it. He was in touch with Sir William Hunter and
Dadabhai Naoroji who in turn had encouraged him not to give up the fight. So in
another memorial addressed to Joseph Chamberlain on May 22, 1 896, it was
pointed out that the enactment in its new form was worse than the earlier
version. The main argument put forward was: in the face of only 251 Indian as
against 9,309 European votes, there was absolutely no necessity of the
legislation in question. It was proposed that, instead of passing this measure
in 'hot haste', a proper inquiry be instituted to find out how many Indians in
Natal possessed immovable property worth £50 or paid a yearly rent of £10 to
qualify for the right of franchise. To set at rest any misgivings that the Natal
Government might have, on behalf of the Congress Her Majesty's Government
was given an assurance that there was no intention to seek enlistment of any
more Indians as voters for the next general election. It was categorically
stated that the Indian community did not want to have any serious role in
shaping the political destiny of South Africa. If there was the slightest danger
of the Indian vote preponderating, an educational criterion which could tell
against the Indians without materially affecting the European vote could be
prescribed. But if Her Majesty's Government was convinced that nothing
short of excluding the Indians from franchise would meet the difficulty, it would
be infinitely better and more satisfactory to do that straight than by
having recourse to an ambiguous legislation that left the door open for litigation

* This inference is based on the evidence given in CWMG, Vol.l, p. 340.

104

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

and trouble. It was made dear that the question was not how many Indians
should have the vote; the real issue was what status the British Indians
should occupy in the colonies. The failure of this appeal, to an authority that
was a known party to the wrong against which the memorial was directed,
was inevitable. So the new Franchise Act came into force and remained a
standing reminder of Joseph Chamberlain's double-dealing.

Zululand, after annexation in 1 887, had been placed under the control
of the Governor of Natal. Some Indian traders were naturally attracted to this
new area. To start with, they did not find it difficult to buy small plots of land
in the township established at Melmoth. At the earliest opportunity, the
unfledged Zululand administration framed certain regulations curtailing the
rights of Indians to live and trade in towns or acquire mining licenses. When
the matter reached the Colonial Office, it did not like that such disabilities
should have been imposed on British Indian subjects. All the same, it did not
interfere with whatever had been done by the local authorities. So in the new
townships, Indians stood debarred from purchasing land. Although they had
been used to accepting such iniquities, in the changed climate of the mid¬
nineties, they were not inclined to take things lying down.

When the rules for disposal of sites in the township of Nondwani, allowing
only Europeans to acquire urban land, were published in February 1 896, Adamji
Miyakhan immediately brought it to the notice of the Natal Congress. Gandhi
lost no time in submitting a petition to the Governor on behalf of the Indians in
Natal . The very next day they were given a reply that these regulations were no
different from those promulgated in 1 891 for Eshowe township. Thereupon Gandhi
requested on behalf of the petitioners that the regulations for both the townships
should be amended 'so as to do away with the colour distinction.' On getting a
No from the Governor, he sent a memorial to the Secretary of State for Colonies
on March 11,1 896. One of the arguments now advanced was that the Indians
should be allowed to purchase land in Zululand, if only for the reason that they
may be able to make their earlier investments profitable. It was also brought
out that if a crown colony could refuse property rights to the British Indian
subjects, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State would in a
greater measure be justified in doing likewise or even going further.

In the meantime, Dadabhai Naoroji had been apprised of this problem.
He in turn brought pressure on the Colonial Office to take cognizance of this
new grievance. Joseph Chamberlain's response in this affair too was open to
the charge of duplicity. He asked the Governor to withdraw the regulations in
question and find a suitable administrative method for excluding undesirable
persons, whether Indians, natives or others from holding land. There was
nothing to prevent misuse of this policy.

***

EARNEST PETITIONER

105

The Cape, which could at one time boast of a more liberal tradition,
had also been affected by the racial virus in the early nineties. The Colony
had a completely changed climate when in February 1895, the mayors of
different cities met for a conference at Cape Town. Among the important
issues discussed at this meet was the segregation of natives, Indians,
Chinese, etc., and regulation of Asiatics' immigration into the Colony.
Significantly, soon thereafter the Cape legislature passed a law whereby the
East London municipal corporation was authorized to require the residence
of blacks and the immigrants from Asia in separate locations outside the
town. It was also permitted to pass municipal regulations, fixing the hours
within which it would not be lawful for members of these communities to be in
the streets, public places or thoroughfares without proper authorization. It
could fix parts of streets and open spaces or pavements on which they may
not be allowed to go. It could even regulate and set apart portions of the rivers
and sea coast where they may not be allowed to bathe or wash their clothes.
The only persons to be exempted from these restrictions were the registered
owners of land within the municipality valued at not less than £75. Having
been warned that the Cape would rather secede from the Empire than suffer
any interference with its domestic affairs, the British Government dared not
disallow the legislation. This was the first blatant act of the Cape Government
signifying a tilt towards outright racial discrimination to the detriment of Indians
and other Asians. What had happened in the Cape was no doubt very serious.
Although Gandhi had known about it, he did not propose opening another
front in that self-governing Colony and it was left to the local leadership to
fight on its own.

***

The situation in the Boer republics was far more gloomy. The Orange
Free State had taken unambiguous measures at an early stage to keep
Indians away and had implemented them ruthlessly. In the Transvaal,
however, the administration was at cross purposes — wanting to get
along with the pressure of white public opinion and the Volksraad for
implementation of law 3 of 1885, as amended in 1886, and yet eager to
keep peace with the British Government. The main difficulty was about
two different interpretations of the legislation. The Colonial Office held
that it merely required, on grounds of sanitation, Indians and other Asiatic
traders who were British subjects to reside in certain specified streets,
wards and locations within towns while carrying on their business in any
part of the municipality. It also contended that this law did not apply to
persons whose relegation to isolated locations was not necessary on
sanitary grounds. The Transvaal Government, on the other hand, claimed
that it was entitled to make regulations as it might consider fit and to
prohibit the persons in question from maintaining business premises in
areas other than those assigned to them for the purpose. The matter

106

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

came to a head when the Volksraad, impatient with vacillation on the part of
Government, passed a resolution in September 1 893 that all persons covered
by the aforesaid law must move to the locations assigned to them for habitation
and trade by January 29, 1 894. The British and Transvaal Governments agreed
to refer the dispute for arbitration by Melius de Villiers, Chief Justice of the
Orange Free State.

The Indians, whose survival in the republic was at stake, had protested
to the British Agent at Pretoria and the High Commissioner at Cape Town
against the principle of arbitration as also the choice of the Arbitrator, but no
one took much notice of their objections. De Villiers pondered over the case
for quite some time. According to the award ultimately given by him in April
1 895, the South African Republic had the right to enforce the law in question
'subject to the sole and exclusive interpretation in the ordinary course by the
tribunals of the country.' The British Government, having given its assent to
the amended law, could not now get away from it.

From the legal standpoint, the award was incontestable. But Gandhi,
who on behalf of the Gujarati merchants having their establishments both in
Natal and the Transvaal was keeping an eye on the happenings in the latter
Colony also, questioned de Villiers' dispensation on grounds of his known
anti-Indian bias and failure to give a decisive verdict strictly on the basis of his
terms of reference. In a memorial addressed to the Secretary of State for
Colonies in May 1895, besides stressing these points, Gandhi made out a
strong case for reopening the whole issue on considerations of equity and
justice. He also contested the basic assumption that Indian settlers in the
Transvaal did not observe proper standards of sanitation. Supporting his
argument with certificates from medical men and others, he asserted that if a
comparison was made between the Indian merchants' dwellings and business
premises and those of Europeans, the former would in noway be found inferior
from the sanitary point of view. His contention was that the real and only
reason for all the hue and cry raised against the Asiatics was trade jealousy.
Simultaneously a petition was sent to Lord Elgin, the Governor-General of
India. His intervention was sought on the ground that Her Majesty's
Government, duped by misrepresentations, had assented to a departure from
the London Convention without consulting the Government of India.

These supplications were of no avail. In June 1895, Her Majesty's
Government gave its acceptance to the Arbitrator's award subject to
interpretation by the court of law. The whole thing now depended upon what
view was taken by the High Court and in that regard the Indians were to file a
test case. In the meantime, the Transvaal Indians were having a precarious
existence and did not know which way to turn.

***

In all parts of South Africa the Indian settlers were feeling demoralised.
Their capacity to successfully compete with the whites in the field of trade

EARNEST PETITIONER

107

and commerce had given rise to a systematic drive on the part of the
latter to put them down in every possible manner. Greed, compounded with
racial prejudice and fear about what might happen if the Indians enjoyed
equal civil rights, had produced in the Europeans' mind rank hatred for
them. The white colonists had no one among them who could remove their
irrational fears and prejudices. The legislatures were under constant pressure
to enact laws imposing on the Asians more and more disabilities.

The series of petitions and memorials that Gandhi had drafted on
behalf of his countrymen for submission to various authorities aimed at
removing the cobwebs of ignorance and certain misconceptions which made
it difficult for most people to view the Indian question in the right perspective.
From the very beginning, he had felt that the only hope for the Indian settler
in South Africa to survive the white man's onslaught lay in the latter coming
to understand the reality as it was instead of how it appeared to his befogged
eyes. To. promote such understanding, Gandhi had written in December
1 894 an open letter of about 5,000 words to all members of both Houses of
the Natal legislature. It was widely circulated and discussed not only in
Natal but other parts of South Africa too. There were many who did not
accept his view, but there were others who admired the calmness and
restraint with which he had stated the case for fair play and justice toward
Indian immigrants. The Star of Johannesburg, an influential paper of English-
speaking uitlanders, complimented him for his 'moderation, impartiality and
skill which would ... surprise many complacent gentlemen who believe that
the possession of the white skin is inseparable from a higher average of
general intelligence than can be possessed by anyone with a darker cuticle.'

The Cape Times frankly interpreted this letter as a sign of the times
and a portent of things to come. After dwelling upon the position of the
Asian immigrants deteriorating all over South Africa, the Cape organ
concluded: 'It would have been strange indeed if in such circumstances an
Indian Moses had not arisen to deliver his people from what is considered
the threatened bondage. With the hour came the man in the person of Mr.
M.K. Gandhi...' Unfortunately, the more Gandhi tried to persuade the
Europeans to see reason, the more circumspect they became. Anyhow,
with comments of this nature appearing in the newspapers Gandhi's standing
within the Natal Congress hierarchy was going up.

One result of the efforts made by Gandhi and his associates
was that Dadabhai Naoroji felt encouraged to vigorously pursue this
question with the British Government. On August 29, 1 895, a deputation
organized by the British Committee of the Indian National Congress waited
on Joseph Chamberlain at the Colonial Office and placed before him the
grievances of the Indians in Natal, Cape Colony and the Boer republics.
On almost all issues brought up by the deputation, the Secretary of State
remained evasive. Even about the altogether untenable position taken by
the Transvaal Government regarding confinement of Asians to locations for

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GANDH! — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

purposes of residence and trade, he showed no inclination to do
anything concrete. All that he agreed to do was to maintain general pressure
on the local administration in the hope that on its own it may find it 'unnecessary to
continue a regulation which undoubtedly is likely to cause pain.'

It was clear that Indians all over South Africa had a desolate future
before them. Nowhere was persuasion or polite protest producing any
effect. Gandhi was still very young, but he had come to have an
unshakeable faith in reason and human goodness. So he never gave
himself up to despair.

VISIT TO INDIA

Gandhi had left India for a year with an assurance to Kasturba that,
in case his stay in South Africa had to be extended by more than six
months, he would have her there. In May 1896 he was already going to
complete his third year in the subcontinent. He was now convinced that it
would be necessary for him to work much longer for the cause with which
he was so intimately associated. He also felt confident that with his
practice of law as it stood he was in a position to provide his wife and
children a good comfortable life at Durban. So he asked his Indian friends
there if he could take a trip to India for six months and fetch his family.
While agreeing to this request, the Natal Congress appointed him its Agent
in India for this period. The idea was that during his visit he would let the
Indians at home know what was happening to their countrymen in South
Africa. He could also get in touch with the leaders of the Indian National
Congress and plead for their active support. A sum of £75 was voted for
the expenses he may have to incur for execution of this mission. In his
absence Adamji Miyakhan was to take over as Honorary Secretary of the
Congress. Before his departure on June 5, 1896, at the two farewell
meetings held in his honour, Gandhi laid stress on the need for different
sections of the Indian community working together with greater harmony.
Special emphasis on this aspect had become necessary because of the
Tamil ex-indentured labourers and their descendants, many of them now
quite well-off, having generally remained aloof from political work.

During his month-long voyage on the s.s. Pongola, Gandhi devoted
much of his time to learning Urdu and Tamil. He also busied himself with
drafting a pamphlet on the problem of British Indians in South Africa to
be published and distributed during his stay in India. The moments of
relaxation spent playing chess with the captain of the ship, a Plymouth
brother, with whom he had become friendly, were peppered with many a
discussion on religion and vegetarianism.

The boat Gandhi travelled by took him to Calcutta. Eager to reach
Rajkot quickly, he boarded the first available train from Howrah to Bombay.
The train had a long halt at Allahabad. So he got down there and went out for
a quick round of the town. He also wanted to purchase an ointment that
could give him some relief from the body rash he had contracted during
the voyage. The druggist took excessive time for dispensing the medicine.
When Gandhi got back to the station, the train had already left. A railway

110

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

official had been good enough to detain his luggage. It was because of
this mischance that Gandhi broke his journey at Allahabad for a day and
called on the editor of The Pioneer. Although known for his lack of sympathy
for Indian aspirations in general, he was responsive to Gandhi's request for
adequate coverage to the problem of Indians in South Africa. The latter felt
much delighted at this unplanned but useful contact. It stimulated him to
quickly complete the pamphlet he had already been working on. He had not,
however, left Allahabad without paying a visit to the sacred Triveni, the confluence
of the Ganges, the Jamuna and the mythical Saraswati.

***

In a couple of days Gandhi was in Rajkot. He was to meet Kasturba
after more than three years. Earlier, he had had an equally long period
away from her when he went to England. He had described it as 'a long
and healthy spell of separation.' After his return from England too, they
had not stayed together for more than six months. About the quality of
their marital life during that period, there is an illuminating paragraph in
his autobiography:

My relations with my wife were still not as I desired. Even my stay in
England had not cured me of jealousy. I continued my squeamishness
and suspiciousness in respect of every little thing, and hence
all my cherished desires remained unfulfilled. I had decided that my
wife should learn reading and writing and that I should help her in her
studies, but my lust came in the way and she had to suffer for my
own shortcoming. Once I went to the length of sending her away to
her father's house, and consented to receive her back only after I had
made her thoroughly miserable. I saw later that all this was pure folly on
my part.

The nature of relationship between them had deeper roots. Even during
their years of adolescence, Gandhi was a 'jealous husband'. He describes
it at length:

I had absolutely no reason to suspect my wife's fidelity, but jealousy
does not wait for reasons. I must needs be for ever on the look-out
regarding her movements, and therefore she could not go anywhere
without my permission ... The restraint was virtually a sort of
imprisonment. And Kasturba was not the girl to brook any such thing.
She made it a point to go out whenever and wherever she liked. More
restraint on my part resulted in more liberty being taken by her, and in
my getting more and more cross.

The self-willed Kasturba, though attached to her husband like a good
Indian wife, would sometimes be cold to him. At any rate he could not take

VISITTO INDIA

111

her for granted. In a very quiet way she had managed to maintain her
individuality.

Keeping all these facts in mind, one can easily visualize how
Kasturba would have looked forward to her husband's arrival with an aching
heart full of pensive yearning, tempered by her irrepressible instinct for
self-assertion. The reception Gandhi got from her must have been a mixture
of tenderness, reticence and sarcasm. It was, however, a reunion of two
mature persons, now comparatively free from the whims and fancies that
had so long interfered with their happiness.

Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee was around the corner and the
authorities were busy preparing for this great occasion. Equal to the
Englishman in his loyalty to the throne, Gandhi became a member of the
committee in charge of this work in Rajkot. As the only person there who
knew the British anthem, he trained the local students for its recital.

When there was an outbreak of plague in Bombay, it became
necessary to take preventive measures in Rajkot also. Gandhi, who readily
offered his services to the State, was put on the committee constituted for
this purpose. His active participation in this programme acquainted him with
sanitation work that later became a matter of deep interest to him.

During this period Gandhi was also engrossed in giving final shape to
the pamphlet he had been writing. It took about a month to publish it. Although
its title was The Grievances of the British Indians in South Africa — An Appeal
to the Indian Public, because of its green cover it came to be described as the
Green Pamphlet. One important feature of this tract was that besides carefully
analysing the problems confronting the Indian commercial elite, he had dealt
with the indentured labour issue in a manner reflecting a good deal of feeling
and insight which had grown with the passage of time. With a print order of
1 0,000, the distribution entailed a lot of labour for which Gandhi enlisted the
help of the children in his locality. They got the packets ready for posting in
double-quick time. He rewarded them with used postage stamps that he had
with him. The Pioneer was the first newspaper to make an editorial comment
on the subject. The Times of India also put in a lead article and demanded a
public inquiry, thus bringing the whole issue into the limelight.

Havingfinished his work regarding circulation of the pamphlet, Gandhi
went to Bombay. There, after meeting Badruddin Tyabji and Mahadeva Govinda
Ranade, he went to Sir Pherozeshah Mehta and gave him a brief account of
the situation in South Africa. The latter took keen interest in the matter and
• asked his Secretary to arrange for a public meeting. Gandhi was to see him
again a day before the date fixed for this purpose.

112

GANDHi — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Happy over this fruitful call on the 'uncrowned king' of Bombay
Presidency, he went to his sister whose husband was seriously ill. Seeing
that she had neither the means nor physical strength to look after him well,
he offered to take them to Rajkot, to which they agreed. At Rajkot, Gandhi
attended on his brother-in-law day and night for more than a month.* Despite
all efforts, his life could not be saved, but the fact that he had received the
best possible care was a great solace to the widow as well as to the person
who had nursed her ailing husband in his last days. Immediately after the
bereavement, Gandhi had to go to Bombay for the public meeting about
Indians in South Africa. Tired out for lack of rest over a long period, with his
throat hoarse and husky, he called on Sir Pherozeshah at the appointed
time.

'Is your speech ready, Gandhi?'

'No, Sir. I plan to speak ex tempore. ’

That will not do in Bombay. Reporting here is bad, and if we have to
benefit by this meeting, you should write out your speech and it should be
printed before daybreak tomorrow.'

It was already 5 p.m. Gandhi was given six hours to write down his
speech. The manuscript was collected from him by Sir Pherozeshah's
man at eleven and was printed overnight. The meeting was held in the hall
of Sir Cowasji Jehangir Institute with Pherozeshah in the chair. When Gandhi
rose to speak, his feeble voice could not reach most people gathered there.
The chairman asked him to speak louder, it only added to his nervousness
and he found his throat all the more choked. This was to be his first public
appearance in India. He felt he was faced with a disaster. Dinshaw Wacha**
had to take the paper and read it out on his behalf. With his elocutionary
skill added to the forcefully worded script, the listeners sat totally absorbed.
The account of the indignities inflicted on Indians in South Africa and the
brief statement about their struggle against racial discrimination evoked
considerable sympathy. The note on which the speech concluded was in
the nature of an appeal that the Indian leaders could not have found easy to
ignore: 'We place our position before you and now the responsibility will
rest to a very great extent on your shoulders, if the yoke of oppression is
not removed from our necks. Being under it, we can only cry out in anguish.
It is for you, our elder and freer brethren to remove it; and I am sure we shall
not have cried in vain.' Applause from the audience, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta's
word of praise for the 'brilliantly composed' speech and the resolution passed
at the end lifted Gandhi out of his gloom. The meeting was given due
prominence by the Press.

Gandhi's fancy for nursing was, in course of time, to turn into a passion.

A prominent public figure of Bombay at that time, he was one of the founder-members
of the Indian National Congress. He functioned as its Secretary for several years and
was later elected its President in 1901.

ViSITTO INDIA

113

From Bombay Gandhi proceeded to Poona (now called Pune), where
he met Bal Gangadhar Tilak* and Gopal Krishna Gokhaie.** Whatever their
mutual differences, both of them were helpful to him. He felt particularly drawn
to Gokhaie. There was something in his physical presence as well as
disposition which left Gandhi spell-bound. Talking of the three stalwarts he
had met, he compared Sir Pherozeshah to the Himalayas, unscalable and
domineering, Tilak to the ocean, majestic and fathomless, and Gokhaie to
the mother Ganges, inviting one to her bosom.

From Poona Gandhi took the train for Madras. The public meeting held
there was an enormous success. On its conclusion there was a virtual scramble
for the Green Pamphlet. To meet this demand, another lot of 2,000 copies
had to be printed locally. The people of Madras, the land of Balasundaram,
had learnt how Gandhi had been helping some of the indentured emigrants
from South India. The affection showered on him in Madras was overwhelming.

Shortly before Gandhi's arrival in Madras, Sir Walter Peace, the Agent-
General for Natal in London had issued a statement in reply to what had been
stated in the Green Pamphlet. This was the result of a Press representative
in India having wired to London a brief summary of the pamphlet and what
some of the Indian newspapers had said on the subject. The points made in
Sir Walter Peace's rejoinder had been dealt with by Gandhi in the enlarged
edition of the Green Pamphlet issued from Madras.

After a fortnight in the south, Gandhi proceeded to Calcutta. There
he met Surendranath Banerjee*** and others, but they remained unstirred.
In the office of the Amrita Bazar Patrika, no one took serious notice of
him. The editor of the Bangabasi was altogether rude: 'Don't you see our
hands are full? There is no end to the number of visitors like you...' This
is how he was dismissed after having been kept waiting for an hour. For
a moment, Gandhi felt peeved**** but quickly realised that the actual

* Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who later came to be known as the father of Indian unrest , first
appeared on the Indian National Congress platform during the session held at Bombay in
December 1889. A fountainhead of radicalism in political action, he was rather conserva¬
tive as far as questions of social reform were concerned.

** The early phase of almost every political leader’s life includes some sort of apprenticeship
with a watchful mentor. In Gandhi's case this need was to a large extent met by Gopal
Krishna Gokhaie. The initial contact established at Poona gradually developed into an
intimate relationship. Although Gokhaie was only 30 at the time Gandhi met him, he was
already a prominent figure in the Indian National Congerss. He placed as much emphasis
on social and economic issues as on political progress. In politics he was a liberal with a
strong belief in constitutional methods of protest.

*** He was an important political figure of contemporary Bengal. He had presided over the
1895 annual session of the Indian National Congress held at Poona.

**** That was understandable, for though Gandhi was young, with less than three years of
public work to his credit, he had got used to courteous attention from the Press. A
newspa-per like The Times, London, having featured a number of articles in support of
the British Indians in South Africa, had on January 27,1896 referred to Gandhi as one
'whose efforts on behalf of his Indian fellow-subjects ... entitle him to respect'. CWMG,
Vol. I, p.361 and Vol. II, pp.70 and 81-2.

114

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

problem was lack of knowledge about the happenings in South Africa. Instead
of giving up further effort, he went to The Statesman. There he was given a
long interview and it was published in full. The editor of The Englishman, too,
having satisfied himself after a searching cross-examination that there was
no exaggeration on Gandhi's part went all out to support his cause. He wrote
a lead article, sent its proof to Gandhi and allowed him the liberty of suggesting
any changes. This unexpected help encouraged Gandhi to think that he may
after all be able to have a public meeting in Calcutta. And a meeting was very
much on the cards when he received a cable from Abdulla Sheth requesting
him to return immediately. He wrote a letter to The Englishman explaining
why it was necessary for him to leave Calcutta abruptly. That done, he set off
for Bombay. He had asked for passage to South Africa by the first available
boat. But Dada Abdulla insisted that Gandhi and his family must travel on his
own steam-ship Courland free of charge. He gratefully accepted the offer.

Gandhi had very little time at his disposal. Nevertheless he managed
to visit Pune again to address a public meeting there. So he had another
opportunity of coming in contact with Gokhale. Every time they met, they felt
drawn towards each other.

Before coming over to India, Gandhi had seriously thought of
persuading some Indian barristers to migrate to Natal which would strengthen
the Asian community in that Colony. The nearest he came to implementing
this plan was his negotiation for a partnership with Talyarkhan, who had
been one of his contemporaries in London and was now practising in Bombay.
After the public meeting held there about Indians in South Africa, this
gentleman had expressed his wish to join him at Durban. In a letter written
by Gandhi to Talyarkhan from Madras, he had spelt out precisely the terms
of partnership they could enter into. To start with, he could work with Gandhi
for six months during which period he expected their joint earnings to be
£70 per month (which might go up to even £1 50 per month) and their joint
expenses with common boarding and lodging to be £50 per month. Whatever
net surplus they could make would be divided by them equally. If, however,
there was any deficit during the first half year it would be borne by Gandhi
himself. In case the experimental arrangement did not succeed, Talyarkhan
could return to Bombay. The whole thing was clear. It would have been very
much unlike Gandhi if he had not added: '...no one in our position should go
to South Africa with a view to piling money. You should go there with a spirit
of self-sacrifice. You have to keep riches at an arm's length. They may then
woo you. If you bestow your glances on them, they are such a coquette
thatyou are sure to be slighted. That is my experience in South Africa.'
It so happened that the arrangement ultimately did not materialize.
Under the circumstances that arose, Talyarkhan had to make a choice
between South Africa and immediate matrimony: he chose marriage. It
is clear from what had transpired between Talyarkhan and Gandhi that
the latter did not want to monopolize to himself whatever scope there
was for an Indian barrister to practise law in Natal. He was certainly

VISITTO INDIA

115

well disposed towards having an associate who could share with him the
burden of his public work and even replace him when necessary.

On return from Poona, he hurried to Rajkot to pick up his family. Back
in Bombay, on November 30, 1896 he sent a telegram to the Governor-
General bringing to his notice that the Transvaal Government was forcing
Indians into locations despite a request from the Secretary of State for
Colonies to stay action until a test case was decided. Gandhi had implored
the Viceroy to take immediate notice of the matter. The same day he set sail
for South Africa with Kasturba, their two sons — Harilai and Manilal, and also
Gokuldas, the only son of his widowed sister. Another steamship Naderi also
left for Durban about the same time. The two boats between them carried
approximately 600 passengers.

During the voyage, Gandhi had felt close to his family to an extent he
had never known before. This nearness made him conscious of another gulf
between him and his wife. He became anxious to mould her and the children
to fit into his pattern of life in Durban. The immediate problem on hand was to
determine the style of dress that Kasturba and the boys were to put on. At
that point of time, Gandhi believed that those who were concerned with service
to the community could not command enough influence unless they
maintained a certain degree of sophistication in dress and manners. So the
customary dress of a Kathiawar bania family was out of question. A complete
switch-over to European style was also not in order. So it was decided to
adopt the Parsi dress — sari of that style for Kasturba; coat and trousers for
the boys. For any problems that arose Gandhi had ready answers backed by
force of authority. This also applied to the use of knives and forks at the
dining-table. In later years when he had outgrown these notions of haute
couture, he would be amused to recollect that he ever had such fads.

Gandhi made it a point to move around on the boat and meet the other
passengers. Amongst them he had some relatives and acquaintances too.
He became better known when on the high seas the steamer encountered
stormy weather. The pitching and tossing of the vessel were severe and
prolonged enough to threaten its safety. There were some trying moments
when it looked that the ship might capsize. Everyone then solemnly prayed
for God's mercy. Gandhi, by nature a good sailor, kept up his spirits and
cheered everyone else. At last when the sky cleared they all heaved a sigh of
relief. Gandhi had, by then, earned the confidence of the fellow-passengers
which was a great source of strength for meeting a different kind of storm that
awaited them at Durban.

GRAPES OF WRATH

Slipshod reporting can sometimes cause serious confusion. On getting
a garbled report of what Gandhi had said in the Green Pamphlet, the Reuter's in
London had cabled to the South African Press on September 18, 1896: 'A
pamphlet published in India declares that the Indians in Natal are
robbed and assaulted, and treated like beasts, and are unable to obtain redress.
The Times of India advocates an inquiry into these allegations.' The moment
this report got published, the Natal white community, already seared by anti-
Indian feelings, was aflame with anger.* Soon after this blow-up the European
Protection Association was formed at Maritzburg for 'defending and preserving
the rights and privileges of European colonists' and for resisting anything
calculated to lower their status and subject them to 'unfair competition with
inferior races.' Commenting on this development, the Natal Mercury described
this talk about protection from the competition of the Indians 'something
humiliating' and amounting to an acknowledgement of their superiority causing
fear among the Europeans. After having gone through the impugned pamphlet,
this paper as well as the Natal Advertiser pleaded for patience on the part of
Europeans, but they were in no mood to listen.

A more ominous threat to the Indian community arose when, towards
the end of November 1896, a large body of Europeans met at Durban
under the chairmanship of the Mayor and decided to launch a Colonial
Patriotic Union with the object of preventing further immigration from
Asia other than that of indentured Indian labourers. The more furious
among the participants had urged the necessity of stopping the drawal
of indentured Indians as well. One of their leaders had argued that while the
whites made money out of the labourers from India, the Indian traders made
money out of the whites. He asserted that it would be better to have white
men go paupers without the help of Indians than rich under their 'fostering
care'. The Mayor himself thought in terms of all Asians having to pay an
exhorbitant tax and went on to suggest: Indians must not be allowed to

Earlier, some trouble had erupted when the Immigration Trust Board accepted on August
7, 1896 the Tongat Sugar Co.'s request for obtaining 12 Indian skilled workers on
indenture. As a result of the Natal Government's intervention in response to the agitation
touched off by this departure from the normal practice of getting only farm hands and
unskilled labourers from India, the Tongat Sugar Co. had to withdraw its indent. Despite
that the protest meetings had continued. The resultant tension was taking its own time
to subside when the report regarding Gandhi's Green Pamphlet caused a fresh flare-up.

GRAPES OF WRATH

117

come at all and the town councils should have the right to grant or refuse
trading licenses to this class of people. Organized public opinion had
thus emerged to strengthen the hands of Government already intent on
introducing at the next Assembly session a Bill to place certain restrictions
on immigration

The resentment caused by the reports that Gandhi had cast aspersions
on the Colony had not yet burnt out when the agitated colonists learnt that he
and his family were on the way to Natal with two ship-loads of Indians. There
followed a spate of protest meetings. Anti-Indian sentiment had grown into
some sort of hysteria. A few firebrands were of the view that the best way of
frustrating the threatened 'Asiatic invasion' was to return the incoming Indians
to their ports of embarkation.

With so much unrest around, the Natal Government apprehended a
serious crisis. The news regarding the plague epidemic in Bombay about
this time came in handy. It was straightaway notified that all vessels coming
from that port would be quarantined. On the day of their arrival both the
steamships, Courland and Naderi, were inspected by the Health Officer, Dr.
Sutherland, a reasonable person by all accounts. Having found that there
was no sickness on board and going by the 23-day period of incubation for
the plague bacilli, counting out 1 8 days taken by the voyage, he imposed five
days' waiting time before disembarkation. While the Government was unhappy
about this period being too short, the owner and agents of the ships, taking
the help of their solicitors, protested against abuse of the quarantine regulations
which, strictly speaking, could apply only to the steamers that may have
arrived from an infected port after issue of the Government orders. In this
case, the notification was published a day after the ships had come and
anchored outside Durban.

During the notified quarantine period, all the prescriptions were carefully
implemented and a thorough disinfection of both the vessels was carried out.
The Government, undeterred by the above-mentioned protest, remained eager
to find some means of prolonging the quarantine. To achieve this end, it went to
the extent of removing Dr. Sutherland and appointing Dr. Birtwell in his place.
After having examined the passengers and the crew, the latter again ordered
disinfection and fumigation to be followed by an extended quarantine which in
effect meant a fortnight more before the passengers could disembark.
Consigning to the fire a large mass of clothes, mats and blankets, etc., in
compliance with Dr. Birtwell's directions meant further distress to the
passengers, already feeling upset because of shortage of water and provisions.
Exposed to cold and wet, they were running the risk of sickness. The Chief
Officers of the ships urged the Government for supply of bed-sheets and blankets
to replace those destroyed under official orders. With the authorities paying no
attention to their messages, the Indian community of Durban had to organize a
Relief Fund to meet the essential needs of the persons on board.

The European Protection Association and the Colonial Patriotic Union,
though having more or less identical aims, were functioning independently

118

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

of each other. At one stage they were torn by feelings of rivalry. As things
grew hot, they passed over the mutual jealousies and threw their combined
weight behind the anti-Indian campaign, with the Union playing a leading role
and sticking to a policy of lawful agitation. This approach did not satisfy the
more turbulent elements who were clamouring for direct action. The latter
found a leader in Captain Harry Sparks, an affluent butcher holding a
commission of the Natal Volunteer Force. A meeting convened by him on
January 4, 1897 in the town hall of Durban was attended by nearly 2,000
persons. Its sole aim was to organize a demonstration in the port area in
protest against the landing of Indians and if necessary to prevent it forcibly.
One of the important speakers had rapped Gandhi with a long arm: ' ... that
gentleman came to Natal and settled in the borough of Durban. He was
received here freely and openly; all the privileges and advantages which the
Colony could afford him were at his disposal ... in return, Mr. Gandhi had
accused the colonists ... of Natal of having dealt unfairly with Indians, and
having abused and robbed and swindled them. (A voice-'you can’t swindle a
coolie')... Mr. Gandhi had ... dragged them in the gutters, and painted them
as black and filthy as his own skin(applause) ...’ Evidently, the tempers were
high. One concrete step taken was the formation of a Demonstration
Committee.

The Government was under pressure to return the passengers of Indian
origin on the two ships to Bombay at the Colony's expense and stop any
more free immigrants from India or any other Asian country from entering
Natal. The Government expressed its full sympathy with public opinion
regarding the desirability of preventing the overrunning of the Colony by Asians
and also disclosed that it was carefully considering legislative action with
that aim. Very gently, it deprecated the idea of a demonstration. Some
responsible sections of the Press also dissuaded the extremists
from resort to violence. The Colonial Patriotic Union too pleaded for ad-herence
to constitutional methods. It was quite clear to most people that the
Government had no power to send back the passengers in question to their
country. The supporters of direct action thought differently. Captain Sparks
on behalf of the Demonstration Committee again asked the Government to
convey to the Asiatics awaiting disembarkation the strong
popular feeling against their landing and tell them to return to India for which
the Colony would bear the cost. The administration was in a quandary. The
prolonged political quarantine had given it enough time to resolve the problem.
However, the Government itself was so packed with supporters of anti-Indian
policy that it could not have looked at things rationally. Harry Escombe,
Attorney-General and now the acting Prime Minister, in the absence of Sir
John Robinson who had gone to England on health grounds, was anything
but candid in dealing with the agitators. Nor did he play straight when F.A.
Laughton, on behalf of the ship-owners' solicitors, met him to ascertain how
the Government proposed to protect the passengers and the cargo from
violent action that the demonstrators might indulge in.

GRAPES OF WRATH

119

There is no count of the meetings organized by the Demonstration
Committee. At every assemblage, the speakers would pour out fire, fanned
by false rumours: hundreds of Indian artisans having come to invade the
Durban labour market; an organization having been set up for the importation
of free Indians; Gandhi having brought a printing press and a contingent of
compositors and printers to mount an organized propaganda on behalf of the
Indian immigrants. There were open calls for violence: 'the Indian ocean is
the proper place for these Indians', ’sink the ship.' Such were the battle-cries
of the troublemakers who were confident that the Government was with them;
and if it failed to do all that was implied, they were prepared to act on their
own.

The leaders of the Natal Indian Congress were watching the scene with
much concern, but they remained calm. Mansukhlal of Messrs Naazar Bros,
London had about this time come to Durban to meet Gandhi. His guidance to
the Indian community was of great help. After the mass meeting of angry
whites on January 7, 1 897, when it became clear that they had made up their
mind to take the law in their own hands and resist the landing of Indians, the
Natal Congress could no longer sit back and mark time. The very next day the
owners and agents of the two ships made representations to the Colonial
Secretary, Maritzburg to remind the Government of its obligations regarding
protection of passengers and property against the apprehended lawlessness.
They even offered their assistance to facilitate the landing of passengers quietly.
The Government response to these moves was both casual and cynical. It was
obvious that the administration wouid consider it good riddance if the stranded
passengers, frightened by the hostile posture of the Demonstration Committee,
should ask for a return passage to India.

Dada Abdulla and his colleagues had kept Gandhi informed of the
happenings on shore. From the very beginning, the latter could see that the
quarantine had more than health reasons behind it. He was determined to
build up resistance against the coercion to which the Indian passengers on
board were being subjected. He knew that the Government was inclined to
appease the agitators, but they could not have their way unless the Indians
themselves agreed to yield. He kept in constant touch with the passengers
to cheer them up and help them ignore the threats that were being held out
on behalf of the white racists. Games were arranged on the ship so that they
should not feel depressed. Equal care was taken to send messages of hope
and assurance to passengers on the other ship. With Gandhi around, these
simple folk did not for a moment lose their patience and confidence. As time
passed, they prepared themselves to hold fast and assert their right to land
in Natal.

On Christmas day, the Captain of the s.s. Courland had a dinner
party with Gandhi and his wife as the principal guests. Addressing this
small gathering, after the banquet, Gandhi spoke in a philosophical vein
about the ills of modern civilization, particularly its conditioning to the cult
of force. The conduct of the Natal whites was, according to nim, an example

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of how the western mind worked. During the discussion that followed, one of
the persons asked him if the Europeans did carry out their threat, how he
would stand by his principle of non-violence. Gandhi placidly answered: 'I
hope God will give me the courage and the sense to forgive them. I have no
anger against them. I am only sorry for their ignorance and their narrowness
...' The questioner smiled, wearing a sceptical look. Perhaps Gandhi had a
premonition of what might happen and was preparing himself for the worst.
What is more important, this was the first time that the idea of non-violence,
rooted as much in the Indian tradition of ahimsa as in Leo Tolstoy's
interpretation of the Christian precepts embodied in the New Testament, had
surfaced in his mind. One can perecive in this whole scene the essential
elements of Gandhi's later ideas about non-violent resistance and his ultimate
rejection of the modern civilization, though their effectual fusion was to come
off after a few years.

***

With the extended period of quarantine coming to an end, the
Demonstration Committee became more active. Its ieaders expected the
merchants of Durban to close their shops on the appointed day to allow the
workers to take part in the demonstration. Those who would not cooperate
were under threat of a boycott. The very day the two ships were granted the
pratique (January 11,1 897), a threatening notice bearing the signature of Captain
Sparks was served on the Chief Officer of each boat. It was in the nature of an
ultimatum to the Indian passengers, who did not elect to return to their country
at the Colony's expense and attempted to force a landing, that they should be
prepared to confront thousands of men who had prepared themselves to oppose
it. A deputation on behalf of the Demonstration Committee went on board the
Courland and the Naderi and engaged itself in negotiations with the Captains
to work out an agreement to end the crisis. For about twenty-four hours, the
Committee conducted itself as if it represented the Government of Natal, its
members could not, however, fail to notice that the passengers were intent on
asserting their right at any risk. On the other hand, the European population of
Durban was in a frenzy. The Press was pandering to their excite-ment by
publishing two-hourly bulletins. From the Indian side, Captain Milne of the
Courland had been made aware of the Demonstration Committee having no
locus standi to negotiate a settlement.

At this stage the ship-owners again wrote to the Attorney-General,
pointing out that the Government had 'fostered ... rather than discouraged' the
menacing attitude of the Europeans of Durban in regard to the landing of Indians.
They also served a legal notice about the Government's liability to
compensate them for detention to the ships, making it clear that in the
event of the Government failing by noon next day to give them an assurance
for paying up the compensation and to take steps to effectively deal with
the rioters, preparations would at once be 'commenced to steam into

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121

the harbour, relying on the protection which ... Government is bound to give
us.! The authorities chose to be a little wiser from this point onward. Sir John
Robinson was back as Prime Minister. This may have made some difference.
But the firm stand taken by the ship-owners had certainly put the fear of law
into Harry Escombe's legal mind. Otherwise, too, the true facts had started
coming to light. The European passengers, who came to the shore on January
1 1 , removed many of the misgivings and talked of Gandhi with great respect.
St also became dear that a large number of passengers on the steamships in
question were to land at Durban en route to the Transvaal.

For two days the Demonstration Committee struggled hard to
pressurize the administration, but failed in its design. On the morning of
January 1 3, the Port Superintendent communicated to the ships that orders
had been issued by the Government to bring the vessels into the harbour.
Before the ships left the outer anchorage, a reporter hurried to the Courland
to interview Gandhi. The latter answered the Pressman's searching questions
in a manner that should have removed the doubts troubling the public mind
perplexed by all kinds of rumours. A report about this interview could appear
only in the morning following the fateful day.

The moment the word spread that the two ships were coming into
the harbour, the mounted trumpeters, as had been planned, rode through
the streets giving a call for the people to reach the berthing point.
Immediately, the shops had their shutters down to enable workers to join
the demonstration. In no time, the Alexandra Square had a crowd of over
3,000 including about 300 blacks* armed with sticks. The ringleaders
were determined to prevent the landing of the Indian passengers, by force
if necessary.

Meanwhile, Harry Escombe had taken care to personally go to the
Harbour area. A rowing boat carrying him was taken alongside the Courland
around noontime. His sole purpose was to assure the Master of the ship
and the Indians on board not to be too anxious. He did mean it when he
said: 'Captain Milne, I want to inform your passengers that they are as safe
under the National Government laws as if they were in their own native
villages.’ After giving a similar word of cheer to the Chief Officer of the Naderi,
the Attorney-General turned toward the wharf. By that time, an over-5, 000-
strong mob had occupied the entire water-front. As the boats moved forward
with the Courland leading, the whole atmosphere was thick with tension.
Gandhi and some other persons on deck were watching the scene with
quiet confidence. In a short while the Courland was in the Bluff channel but
no one could make out where the passengers were going to disembark.
The crowd was getting uneasy.

When the Attorney-General landed on the main wharf, members of the
Demonstration Committee were there to receive him. He was taken to a pile
of sleepers in Alexander Square, a vantage point from which it was

* Based on CWMG, Vol II, p.168.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

possible for him to address the gathering. The people thronged around the
timber stack: all this while they were seething with anger. Anxious about the
time being lost, many of them feared that all the coolies might land on the
other side.

It was 1 p.m. by the time Harry Escombe started his speech. He
could see that the crowd was in an ugly mood. He would not have forgotten
that he himself was in large measure responsible for raising the storm. It
was, therefore, obligatory on his part to control it somehow. He mustered all
his skills to sway the minds of the audience. He assured them that the
Government completely understood the cause of their anxiety and was serious
about passing suitable legislation in accordance with their wishes. At the
same time he tried to appeal to their Imperial sentiment and persuade them
not to attempt anything that would hurt the feelings of Her Majesty, the Queen
of England. He asked them 'to trust the Government as Government had
trusted them.' The shouts of applause at this moment were mixed with cries
of dissent. The leaders of the Demonstration Committee who had been stoking
the fire so long were now eager to quench it. They also addressed the gathering.
What they wanted to convey was: the Government had been sleeping; the
demonstration had served to awaken it; and now it could be relied upon to
handle the problem more earnestly. Their speeches had the desired effect.
The crowd gradually melted away and the shops reopened. But the hard-core
extremists were left with a feeling that they had been duped.

Late in the afternoon the two vessels were berthed. The city was
calm. No one took notice of the Indian passengers landing and moving
out in small groups. Captain Milne had, however, received a message
from the Attorney-Genera! that, in view of widespread resentment against
Gandhi among the Europeans, he and his family should leave the ship
after dusk when the Port Area Superintendent would be there to escort
them. Gandhi had agreed to act accordingly. A little later, F.A. Laughton,
Sheth Abdulla's legal adviser, reputed for his genuine interest in the
Indian community's well-being, came on board and suggested that Mrs.
Gandhi and the children should go to Parsi Rustomji's residence in a
vehicle while he along with Gandhi would follow them on foot. Captain
Milne was naturally hesitant about it. Gandhi too did not wish to disregard
the Government advice. Laughton, however, argued that, in the face of
various aspersions cast on Gandhi during the agitation, surreptitious
entry by him into the city under cover as proposed might be exploited by
his detractors, anxious to denigrate him. He even expressed a suspicion
that this arrangement may have been suggested with an ulterior motive.
After a good bit of argument, Gandhi agreed to what had been proposed
by Laughton. The Captain also came round. Anyhow, Kasturba and the
kids reached Rustomji's place without any problem.

With the Police completely out of the picture, Gandhi accompanied
by Laughton left the ship at about 4.30 p.m. They were still on the dock when
some white youngsters, who had caught sight of Gandhi, raised an alarm:

GRAPES OF WRATH

123

'Gandhi! Gandhi! Boo-oo; thrash him; surround him.' Soon they were joined
by some more people and their number began to grow. Suddenly pebble
stones directed at Gandhi started buzzing past him. Parsi Rustomji's house
was no less than two miles away. It dawned on Laughton at this stage that it
may not be safe to walk all the way. He called up a rickshaw, a transport that
Gandhi never liked to use. In response to Laughton's insistence, as he was
getting into one, the European boys roughed up the Zulu rickshaw-puller so
vilely that he left the fare for his own safety. Getting another rickshaw was out
of question. So Gandhi and Laughton went ahead on foot, followed by a
hooting and howling mob. Before they could cover much distance, the crowd
had increased to such an extent that they were surrounded on all sides and
could proceed no further. Gandhi was exposed to serious danger. Laughton,
who tried to protect him, was shoved away. Gandhi was now at the mob's
mercy. In addition to curses and foul words, mud, stones, stale fish and
rotten eggs were being hurled at him. A stone hit his temple and caused a
bleeding injury.

With a large mass of men pressing on, within moments Gandhi was in
the hands of hooligans who came upon him 'boxing and battering'. Somebody
removed his turban and threw it off. One of the rowdies caught him and shouted:
'Are you the man who wrote to the Press?' He gave vent to his wrath with a slap
in the face, followed by a brutal kick. Another hoodlum hit him with a riding
whip. He was at the point of fainting; somehow he rallied himself and held the
railing of an adjoining house with a firm grip. The irate mob would not have left
Gandhi alive but for the providential appearance of Mrs. Alexander, the local
Police Superintendent's wife, on the scene. She recognized him, rushed to his
rescue and bawled at the assaulters. Put to shame by the chivalrous woman,
many of them slipped away. A few moments later the flying missiles, aimed at
Gandhi, reappeared. Luckily, because of cloudy weather Mrs. Alexander was
armed with an umbrella. She had the presence of mind to open and use it as a
shield. As the fact of Mrs. Alexander's intervention became known to the rest of
the crowd, it cooled off for the time being.

Meanwhile, an Indian youth who was a witness to the happening
had run to the police station. On receipt of this information, Mr. Alexander
had sent some constables to the site for escorting Gandhi to his
destination. They reached the trouble spot promptly. Taking him under
their protection they proceeded along West Street. The crowd was again
in a state of excitement and followed the police contingent escorting
Gandhi. Those who saw him were impressed by his unperturbed look.
The police station was on the way. Mr. Alexander, who was waiting there,
advised him to take shelter in the station for some time. Gandhi did not
like to accept the offer. Keen to go to the place where he and his family
were to put up, he said: 'They will certainly calm down when they realise
their mistake. I can rely upon their sense of fairness.' The police managed
to reach him at Parsi Rustomji's house without further mishap. Immediately
on arrival there, Gandhi was attended to by a doctor.

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Inside the house it was all very nice. But a large mob had gathered
outside. Wild with rage, the people were shouting: 'We must have Gandhi.'
As the word went round, many more persons came and joined the rabble
which by 8 p.m. had grown into a large mass of unruly people. The policemen
in plain clothes posted around the house could be of little use. The
Superintendent of Police himself arrived there and tried to persuade the people
to disperse. All his tact and ingenuity failed to produce the desired effect, in
the absence of the Mayor of Durban, he sought the help of Mr. Ramsay
Collins, the Deputy Mayor. The latter came and made an effort to prevail upon
the mob to let go the man who had already suffered. Harry Sparks, who had
in the first instance master-minded the demonstration plan also addressed
the gathering in the same vein. If a few persons left in response to their
advice, others came in to take their place.

As it grew darker, some of them, feeling tired and hungry, left the
place. There was a perceptible thinning of the crowd on this account, but
those who were holding out were a really stubborn lot. Later they were joined
by a fresh stream of roughnecks who drifted in after having imbibed plenty of
alcohol in the free hours of the evening. Their arrival had the effect of recharging
the unholy mess. The mob, again in a turbulent mood, indulged in stone¬
throwing. There was a fresh wave of stumporatory. One of the speakers,
George Spradbrow, incited the Africans against the coolies. The Superintendent
of Police had to brief the African constables with special care to disperse the
natives.

The infuriated whites were more difficult to control. They gave an ultimatum
that, if Parsi Rustomji did not make over Gandhi to them, they would set the
house on fire. Rustomji was not a person to be cowed down by such threats.
Mr. Alexander naturally felt very uneasy. He was anxious to save the situation
by any means. Taking some of his men into confidence, he arranged for Gandhi
to move out of Rustomji's place in disguise. An Indian constable who could
serve as Gandhi's double at least in the matter of height and build was made to
get inside the house stealthily. The idea was to employ his uniform for smuggling
Gandhi out. He carried Mr. Alexander's message for him explaining the modus
operand i and urging: This is the only way in which I can save you and others.
The crowd is so excited that I am not in a position to control it. if you are not
prompt in following my directions, I am afraid the crowd will raze Rustomji's
house to the ground and it is impossible for me to imagine how many lives will
be lost and how much property destroyed.'

At this critical moment, Gandhi had to set aside his moral objections.
He donned the police constable's blue serge uniform, covered his head with
a South Indian-style red scarf tied round a helmet-like metal plate and had
his face done up as necessary. In this process, the injuries he had suffered
on his way from the harbour were completely off his mind. After a little
while, three persons including Gandhi disguised as a policeman and two
detectives, one in the guise of an Indian merchant and the other that of a
coachman, stole out of Rustomji's house. They reached a neighbouring

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125

shop through a bylane, found an exit there and threaded their way through
the crowd towards a carriage that was waiting for them at the end of the
street. Thus Gandhi was driven off to the same police station where he had
not liked to take refuge earlier in the evening.

In the meantime, Mr. Alexander had a bench placed in front of
Rustomji's dwelling and himself got on to it, ostensibly for addressing the
assemblage. By doing so he had provided against any attempt to forcibly
enter the building through the front door. For some time he engaged the
crowd talking to them good-humouredly, mixing a bit of kidding with hilarious
rhymes. Someone started singing:

We'll hang old

Gandhi On a sour apple tree.

The song swelled into a vibrant chorus. Mr. Alexander also joined it
heartily. He kept it going till he received word that Gandhi had safely reached
the police station. Reassured on that account, he became serious and asked
the crowd earnestly what they wanted.

We want Gandhi. '

What will you do with him?'

'We will burn him.' 'What harm has he done to you?'

'He has vilified us in India and wants to flood Natal with Indians. '

'What, if he does not come out?'

'We'll then burn this house.'

"His wife and children are also inside the house. There are other
men and women, besides. Would you not be ashamed of burning women
and children?"

'... We do not wish to hurt anyone else. It would be enough if you
hand over Gandhi to us. If you do not surrender the culprit, and if
others are injured in our endeavour to capture him, would it be fair on your
part to blame us?

Having brought them to at least this level of reasoning, with a gentle
smile Mr. Alexander disclosed to the crowd that their victim had left Rustomji's
house passing through their midst and had reached another place. Some of
the people laughed loudly and shouted: 'It's a lie; it's a lie.' The crowd was
now in a different mood. Some of the people pleaded with the Superintendent
that if he could 'confide Gandhi to their care' they would only smear the man
with molasses and deliver him back 'safe and sound.1 Keeping up good humour,
Mr. Alexander made them a sporting offer: 'If you do not believe me, you may
appoint one or two representatives whom I am ready to take inside the house.
If they succeed in finding out Gandhi, I will gladly deliver him to you. But if
they fail, you must disperse.'

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Mr. Alexander's suaveness was irresistible. Three persons were
nominated by the crowd. They searched the building thoroughly and reported
that the Police Chief was right. Though some people reacted angrily, most of
them felt satisfied and even viewed the officer's tact with favour. The crowd
started melting away. Only the determined few held out a little longer until a
heavy shower of rain came to the help of the police. It was past 11 o'clock
when the bitter-enders also left the place in disgust.

Within a few hours, Gandhi had been face to face with danger twice.
What had happened caused a good deal of heart-searching on his part.
Philosophizing about his escape from Rustomji's house in disguise, he could
not clearly place what made him do so: 'Who can say whether I did so
because I saw that my life was in jeopardy, or because I did not want to put
my friend's life and property or the lives of my wife and children in danger?'
The fact is that there was no time for thinking and he instinctively responded
to the situation according to Mr. Alexander's advice which turned out to be
correct. For two days Gandhi remained at the police station. He was put up
in the officers’ hostel upstairs. In this quiet hideout he reflected over
uncertainties of the future that lay before the Indians in South Africa as also
the dramatic turn his life had taken as a result of events following his
disembarkation from the Courland. Suddenly he had reached an important
point in his search for values the pursuit of which was to give his life a deeper
meaning and purpose. In retrospect he wrote about it: '... whenever I think of
that day, I feel that God was preparing me for the practice of Satyagraha.'

***

After the storm had blown over, all those concerned were anxious to
disown responsibility for what had come to pass. On the morning of January
14, the Deputy Mayor called on Gandhi at the Central police station, feeling
sorry for the unfortunate occurrence. He, however, reminded him obliquely of
the indiscreet manner in which he had left the ship. 'With a piercing look that
made the Deputy Mayor squirm,' Gandhi told him that he had done so after
full deliberation. He also made it clear that he had no grouse against the
people who had attacked him because 'if he had done and said what they
thought he had, he would deserve to be lynched.' The implication was that
those who had misguided the mob were to blame.

The attention of the Press was already focused on what the city of
Durban had gone through. The publication of Gandhi's interview to a
correspondent of the Natal Advertiser just before his landing had convinced
most people that the charges levelled against him by his adversaries were
unfounded. It had helped cooling down of tempers. But the Natal Mercury,
the Government's mouthpiece, while conceding that the Green Pamphlet
contained practically nothing that Gandhi had not published previously in
Natal, blamed him for having landed as he did and described it as 'ill-
advised'. Advocate F.A. Laughton, on whose advice Gandhi had

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127

disembarked without police protection, could not remain quiet. He
promptly came out with a forceful vindication of his friend's action and
the part he had himself played, adding: 'He might have kept to the boat at
Cato's Creek, when he saw the crowd collecting to receive him; he might
have taken refuge in (the) police station, but he did not; he said he was
quite ready to face the men of Durban and to trust them as Englishmen.
Throughout the trying procession, his manliness and pluck could not have
been surpassed, and / can assure Natal that he is a man who must be
treated as a man. Intimidation is out of question, because if he knew the
Town Hall was going to be thrown at him, I believe, from what I saw, that
he would not quail. '

Four or five days after Gandhi had moved to his Beach Grove dwelling
with his family, the Attorney-General Harry Escombe who lived close by
sent for him. Expressing his regret for the happenings of January 1 3, he
mentioned that the Secretary of State for Colonies had asked the
Government of Natal to take action against the assailants. He wanted to
know if Gandhi could identify any of them. The latter was clear in his mind
that the problem was not that of identification; he just did not want to
proceed against the persons who, on the basis of what they learnt from
their leaders, had done whatever they thought was necessary in a fit of
indignation. His reasoning was simple:

I would not blame them for it. Excited crowds have always tried to
deal out justice in that manner. If anyone is to blame it is the
Committee of Europeans, you yourself and, therefore, the
Government of Natal. Now I cannot prosecute you or the Committee
for the assault. And even if I could, I would not seek redress in a
court of law. It remains for me to fight with you in the political field
and convince you that the Indians wish to preserve their self-respect
and safeguard their rights without injuring the Europeans in the least.

Harry Escombe was not prepared for such a reply. He at once
commended the way Gandhi had reacted to his query and remarked that
this self-restraint on his part would be of great service to the Indian
community. He did not hesitate to acknowledge that, by refusing to prosecute
the culprits, Gandhi had saved the Government of Natal from a most awkward
situation. Eager to be in a position to send a reply to Chamberlain's urgent
cable, Harry Escombe wanted something in black and white. So he
suggested that Gandhi might consult Mr. Laughton and his other friends:
and if after such consultations he still adhered to his resolve not to prosecute
his assailants he should clearly say so in a written note.

Harry Escombe had not quite understood the man sitting before
him until he heard what followed: '! had no idea that you had sent for me
in this connection. I have not consulted anyone. Nor do I wish to consult
anyone now. When I decided to land and proceed with Mr. Laughton, I
had made up my mind that I should not feel aggrieved in case I was

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injured. Prosecuting my assailants is, therefore, out of question. I agree
with you that I shall serve my community as well as myself by this act of
self-restraint. I propose, therefore, to take all the responsibility on my
shoulders and to give you the note you ask for here and now.' Asking for a
piece of paper, Gandhi wrote down there and then a small letter addressed to
the Attorney-General on these lines:

...I do not wish that any notice should betaken of the behaviour
of some people towards me last Wednesday, which I have no
doubt was due to misapprehension on their part as to what I did
in India with reference to the Asiatic question.

It is due to the Government to state that, although, under instructions
from you, the Superintendent of Water Police offered to take me to
town quietly at night, I proceeded to the shore with Mr. Laughton on
my responsibility without informing the Water Police of my departure.

This was the voice of a person, already self-possessed and serene,
speaking spontaneously. The moral content of the decision he had taken
was a foreglimpse of many things that were to happen in the coming years.
He went ahead without consulting anyone because he had no doubt that his
response to the problem in hand was right in principle.

In the whole episode, two persons who had truly matched Gandhi's
rectitude were the Superintendent of Police Mr. R.C. Alexander and his wife.
He could not have passed over what both of them had done to save his life on
the demonstration day. He thought it proper to send them some gifts along
with his letters of thanks. The way they acknowledged Gandhi's tokens of
gratitude could not but draw them close to his heart. Mr. Alexander expressed
his sincere regret over the fact that due to insufficient force at his command
he had to contrive Gandhi's escape from the mob in disguise and use deceit
to procure his safety. He went on to say: 'I trust you and your people, will
forgive, and that you like our own Prophet, when placed under a similar trial,
will forgive your accusers, for they knew not what they did.' At the time Mr.
Alexander wrote this, the contents of Gandhi's letter of January 20 to the
Attorney-General had not been made public. Mrs. Alexander for her part did
not hesitate to say that whatever she was able to do could 'in no way atone
for the gross injustice done to you by my countrymen.'

Gandhi had gained a moral victory. Harry Escombe and the Government of
Natal had lost face. There was a widespread suspicion of collusion between the
Government and the Demonstration Committee. Everyone knew that the Attorney-
General had given an impression to the committee that it had the administration's
support and that the Government would rather resign than call out troops to deal
with the breakdown of law and order. This policy was interpreted by the Government's
critics as a part of its preparation for the coming general elections. That the ruling
party should have stooped so low to gain votes was a stigma which could not

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129

be easily effaced . It was due to Gandhi's generosity that the Government of
Natal was able to steer clear of the embarrassment of having to take punitive
action against his assailants, but its image in the public eye was badly tarnished.

Joseph Chamberlain had to bear the brunt of Sir William
Wedderburn's embarrassing questions in Parliament. Gopal Krishna
Gokhale, with whom Gandhi was to have a lot more to do in future, had
very aptly described the attempted lynching as 'a tale which no Indian
can read without bitterness and no right-minded Englishman ought to
read without a feeling of deep shame and indignation.'

BELLOWS— FULL OF ANGRY WIND

The fateful thirteenth day of January 1897 was an important
landmark in Gandhi's life as well as in the history of Natal's Indian
community. A section of the Press had heartily applauded refusal on the
good Samaritan's part to bring his assailants to book. From this point
onward, Natal could have entered upon an era of cordiality between the
Indian settlers and the white colonists if the latter so willed. In fact there
was no one among the leaders of the European community who could
launch a sweeping campaign for peace and harmony. On the contrary,
there were so many headstrong chauvinists under whose influence the
clamour for anti-Asiatic measures was continuing to grow. Soon the
bellows, full of angry wind, started whooping.

The first law passed in 1 897 by the Natal legislature, summoned a
month before its due date as a concession to the people who had created
trouble, was the Quarantine Amendment Act aimed at tightening the
regulations, not so much to guard against the ingress of plague bacilli as
to keep the unwanted Indians away. In view of the frustration experienced
by whites at the legal obstacles that came in the way of the Government,
otherwise inclined to send back to India the passengers brought to Durban
by the Courland and the Naderi, a law empowering the Govemor-in-Council
to follow such a course, was vociferously demanded by one and all. No
doubt was left about the basic motive behind the aforesaid legislation
when the Prime Minister, while moving the second reading of the Bill, had
openly said that it would enable the Government to check the immigration
of free Indians to the Colony.

The quarantine barrier by itself could not have satisfied the colonists
obsessed with a fear that eventually they were going to be engulfed by the
Asians unless some drastic measures were taken to avert the danger.
One aspect of the problem had been taken care of with the passage of the
Indian Immigration Amendment Act (1 895) which, by prescribing an annual
levy of £3 payable by the labourers who did not leave the Colony on expiry
of their indenture, had rendered it extremely difficult for them to settle
down in Natal. The European community was now eager to raise a
barricade, not easily violable, against British Indian subjects who came to
this country for trade or in pursuit of other vocations as free migrants.
With the Colonial Office set against legislation openly based on racial
discrimination, the Natal Government chose to go in for a law that might

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131

not specifically relate to the people coming from any particular country but
would indirectly ward off the entry of free Indians. The Immigration Restriction
Act (1 897) met this requirement by declaring a person who could not write
out and sign in the characters of any European language an application in
the prescribed form as a prohibited immigrant. So, no Indian, howsoever
learned he was in any of his country's languages, could come to Natal even
temporarily, if he did not know a European language, unless special permission
was accorded to him. This particular enactment was soon to be commended
by Joseph Chamberlain at the Colonial Premiers Conference in London as a
model legislation for regulation of immigration:

... I wish to direct your attention to certain legislation which is
in process of consideration, or which has been passed by
some of the colonies, in regard to the immigration of aliens,
and particularly ... Asiatics.

I have seen these Bills, and they differ in some respects one
from the other, but there is no one of them, except the Bill which
comes to us from Natal, to which we can look with satisfaction.

Although this law was not meant to be enforced retrospectively, it
made things difficult even for Indians already in Natal. The persons, otherwise
liable to fall in the category of prohibited immigrants, could seek exemption
from the disabilities applicable to them, only by proving that they had been
formerly domiciled in Natal. The word domicile, appearing in this Act had
some legal connotations and left room for much harassment to the Indians
already resident in Natal but having to prove their former domicile whenever
they returned to the Colony after a visit to India or some other country.

Another noxious legislation that sullied the Natal Statute Book about
this time was the Dealers' Licensing Act (1 897) which made it obligatory for
retail and wholesale traders to maintain their account books in English and
conferred absolute authority on the officers to be appointed by the local bodies
for issue and renewal of trade licenses with no right for an aggrieved party to
appeal to a court of law. The sole object of this enactment was to discourage
the immigration of Indian merchants and to enable the municipalities to rid
themselves of those already having established business in Natal. It was
hinted at one stage on behalf of the Government that this law in effect would
be complementary to the one pertaining to immigration: 'Ships would not
bring these people if they knew that they could not be landed and the people
would not come here to trade if they knew they could not get licenses.'

■kirk

There had been a sea-change in Gandhi's personal standing vis-a-vis
the leading merchants who controlled the Natal Congress as compared to

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what it was in 1894-95. All that he had done during his six-month stay in
India and the contact he had established with some of the Indian leaders had
greatly enhanced his stature. Moreover, the happenings of January 1 3, 1 897
at Durban and what followed thereafter had endowed him with a moral authority
which neither his Indian friends nor his European adversaries could easily
disregard. He was now in a better position to bear the burden of combating
the new onslaught of anti-Indian measures, the preparatory work for which
had started soon after his return from India. Having sensed the way the Natal
Government was going to react to the pressure of public opinion as voiced by
the Colonial Patriotic Union and the notorious Demonstration Committee,
Gandhi had sought the help of India's well-wishers in London. Mansukhlal
Naazar who went back to England was required to explain to the British
Government the problems weighing heavily upon Indians in Natal and to do
whatever else was possible. It was a difficult time for upholders of the Indian
cause there because of an atmosphere of suspicion created by the murder of
two British officers in Pune and the disturbances following Lokmanya Tilak's
conviction on a charge of sedition. Mansukhlal, however, succeeded in gaining
a good deal of support but with no positive result.

On his own part, anticipating the legislative blitz that was in the
offing, Gandhi prepared a memorial addressed to Joseph Chamberlain,
the Secretary of State for Colonies, bringing out the significance of the
anti-Indian demonstration of January 13 in Durban and the genesis of the
three new Bills that the Natal Government was determined to push through.
The basic argument he put forth in this representation was the imaginary
nature of the fears at the root of the proposed laws. It made plain that
Indians were the most hated and misunderstood community in Natal.
They had been abused as 'black vermin'. Someone at a public meeting
had said: 'They breed like rabbits.' Another person had added: The worst
of it is we can't shoot them down.' What the memorialists sought was a
fresh pronouncement by the Imperial authority that Indians would be treated
on a footing of equality with other British subjects outside India.* This
memorial submitted on March 1 5, 1 897 was altogether gainless. No help
could be expected from the Secretary of State who himself was the master¬
mind behind the concept of prejudicial legislation worded in a manner
which made it difficult to denounce the enactments on grounds of racial
discrimination. The petitions addressed to the local Legislative Assembly
and Council had a similar fate.

Surprisingly, the Immigration Restriction Bill was opposed by some
persons because, in their view, the measure was too moderate. For example,
Henry Binns, deprecating the simple condition of making an application in
a European language, had asked: Did the Premier suppose that 'the wily
Hindu even on his passage from India would not be able to learn to do

This has reference to the Royal Proclamation of 1858 according to which the status of

Indian British subjects was to be equal to that of Her Majesty’s other subjects. This

principle was reiterated by Lord Ripon as India's Viceroy.

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133

that?' Some of the members were unhappy because it was not a straight
enactment. The Prime Minister explained that the Bill had been made general
in deference to the wishes of the Secretary of State for Colonies who had
suggested that it should be put into a form which would not affront a large
class of Her Majesty's subjects.' Apromise was held out that if this measure
was found to be inadequate, the Government wouid later like to go in for a
more stringent law that should meet all the requirements.

The Dealers' Licensing Bill was criticised by some members who did
not like that in order to subdue the Indian menace the local bodies should be
given vast, absolute powers which could be abused by the officials against
the Europeans as well. The Prime Minister himself was conscious of the
loathsome character of the measure. He had no straight answer for its critics
who looked at it as a license for arbitrary action. He defended it as the only
means 'to prevent persons who competed with Europeans from getting licenses
to trade.' It was not possible to achieve it without 'appearing' to take away a
part of the people's liberty. The Prime Minister had also affirmed that the
main object of the Bill would bis defeated if the courts were to be given
jurisdiction in the matter.

These Bills had been referred to the Home Government to find out if
they should be reserved for Her Majesty's assent. The Secretary of State for
Colonies, feeling quite at ease because the measures did not specifically
discriminate against any particular group, authorized the Governor to give
assent to them at his own level. Certain sections of the South African Press,
however, had not taken kindly to the measures in question. For example, the
Immigration Restriction Act had been criticised by one of the papers as
'dishonest and hypocritical..." Another newspaper had described it as 'one of
the most contemptible of tricks to which a Government and Legislature could
be party.' The Dealers' Licensing Act had been characterized as 'most un-
English and oppressive.' The Natal Advertiser expressed the hope that no
law would 'ever be passed in this Colony on any pretext whatever' which
embodied 'the unconstitutional, arbitrary and illegal principle' of debarring
citizens from access to the courts of law.

Neither the representations made on behalf of the Indian community
nor the outcry raised by the Press had produced any tangible effect.
The three Bills having been rushed through both the Houses, the formality
of obtaining the Governor's assent was completed speedily and the
enactments were gazetted in May and June 1897. Even while Gandhi's
immediate anxiety had centred around this legislative eruption prior to the
imperial conference scheduled for June 1 897, he had arranged for a letter to
be addressed to a number of prominent public figures in England. What he
wanted was to distribute copies of the memorial submitted to the Secretary
of State for Colonies and to acquaint the persons concerned generally with
the legal disabilities which the Natal Indians were already labouring under
and the new prejudicial laws in the offing. The annual license fee of
£3 prescribed as the price of permission to be paid by an indentured

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Indian to live as a somewhat free man in the Colony, putting him in a position
"perilously near to slavery" did figure in this letter, but only as one of the
numerous grievances. The real impact of this abominable levy was to be felt
when the labourers who came to Natal after the enactment of the 1895
Immigration Amendment law were to opt for continued stay in the Colony on
expiry of their indenture with its extended periods. So the Congress may not
have been confronted with a clamour right at this time against the suffering to
which the labourers concerned would be put after a few years. If on its own it
had started actively demanding abolition of the poll tax during this interval
and had pursued it relentlessly, it could have built up sufficient pressure for
something concrete to be done before the situation had developed into a
crisis. It so happened that at this stage Natal's economy was badly in need
of infusion of additional labour from India. Tactically it was an opportune time
to bring things to a head with regard to a fresh look on the terms of indenture.
Even if there was no immediate result, the matter would have assumed urgency
by the time Lord Curzon succeeded Lord Elgin as India's Governor-General.
Failure on the part of the Natal Congress to take any special initiative in that
regard would expose this organized body, representing the entire Indian
community, to very valid criticism for not according high enough priority to an
important issue pertaining to its most oppressed section. In dealing with this
matter, even Gandhi had not evinced at this stage the kind of passion that he
had manifested while writing about it in the Green Pamphlet or while speaking
about it during his visit to India.

***

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was due on June 22, 1 897.
Surprisingly, the Indians of Natal took extraordinary pains to send her
on this occasion an address conveying their loyalty, devotion and good
wishes. It was inscribed on a silver shield, bearing twenty-one signatures
including that of Gandhi. He had not only drafted it but was foremost
among those who had taken the initiative in this demonstration of
allegiance to the throne. An elegant piece of art on display in the show-
window of R. Wilcock in West Street at Durban, it was the focus of
attention of all passers-by for a number of days. It was presented to the
Governor of Natal on June 3, 1 897 for despatch to Her Majesty. Another
highlight of the Indian community's part in the celebrations was the opening
of the Diamond Jubilee Indian Library with the help of public subscriptions
supplemented by a donation from the Natal Congress.

For Gandhi these were not matters of mere ritual or good form. At
this time, as for many years to come, he was a genuine believer in the
virtues of the British empire. His faith in the British imperial authority had
not been shaken by his encounters with the various forms of injustice and
prejudice under its umbrella. Right in this merry-go-round of gaiety and
rejoicing, despite all the enthusiasm displayed by non-whites, they were

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135

left in the cold as far as the official programme of celebrations was
concerned. There were all kinds of entertainment for the Europeans and
their children. No one had the grace to throw them open to Asians or Africans.

★★★

The manifestations of loyalty to the Crown did not in any way water
down Gandhi's commitment to the cause taken up by the Natal Congress.
He worked on a fresh petition to the Secretary of State which was submitted
on July 2, 1897. It had concluded with a prayer that the laws in question
should be disallowed or an inquiry ordered to examine the justification for
their enactment. Not that Gandhi had much hope of real good coming out of
this representation: since under the constitution the Crown had the power to
dissent within two years from any law passed by the colonial legislature, he
had chosen to seek Joseph Chamberlain's intervention even at this stage to
keep the matter open. He also approached some important public men in
India, apprised them of the position and sought their help to secure justice for
Indians in Natal: 'Unless there is a powerful public opinion against the
disabilities that are being heaped upon the Indians in Natal, our days are
numbered. Natal beats both the republics (the Transvaal and the Orange
Free State) in its studied persecution of the Indians, and it is Natal that can
least do without Indians. She must have them under indenture. She won't
have them as free men. Would not the Home and the Indian Governments
stop this unfair arrangement...?'

Neither the India Office nor the Indian Government had been brought
into the picture before the Natal legislature made short work of the whole lot
of anti-Indian measures. When these enactments came to their notice, they
were already an accomplished fact. Anyhow, the Secretary of State for India
(Lord George Hamilton) did protest to the Secretary of State for Colonies for
having allowed the passing of such laws. He particularly objected to the
concept of legal domicile as a necessary condition for exemption from the
disabilities and penalties to which prohibited immigrants were liable under
the Immigration Restriction Act. He expressed the anxiety that its provisions
must not affect persons already in Natal. He also found fault with the Dealers'
Licensing Act, specially the investiture of final authority to the local councils
in the matter of granting, withholding and renewal of licenses without any
right of appeal to a court of law. He urged that the Indians must be guaranteed
complete equality before the law and should not in any way be placed at a
disadvantage as compared to other inhabitants of the Colony. He even went
on to remind the Colonial Office that the Government of India might have to
stop the supply of indentured labour if it had reasons to believe that the Indian
immigrants were 'unfairly or oppressively dealt with.'

This plaintive note from the India Office, not to mention petitions
submitted by the Natal Indians and signs of disquiet in England and in India
on this issue, could not remain unheeded by Joseph Chamberlain. He felt

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obliged to ask the Natal Government to rethink about some objectionable
features of the enactments underfire. His own attitude was so lukewarm that
ultimately all that he specifically asked for was removal of the word 'domicile'
from the relevant clause of the Immigration Restriction Act.

In the meantime, the political scene in Natal had undergone a big
change. Harry Escombe was sworn in as Prime Minister consequent upon
the Forward Party headed by him having won a majority in the general
election in the last week of September 1897. However, due to some differences
in the Party, he found it necessary to step down within a week. Before he
resigned he had an important meeting in his bungalow with a deputation of
Indians including Gandhi. It had something to do with the nervousness among
Indian merchants following the promulgation of the Dealers' Licensing Act
just before the election although it had been kept in abeyance for nearly three
months. Gandhi played a pivotal role at this meeting that resulted in an
understanding that the existing firmly established interests would be protected
by the Government. The Indians in return agreed to cooperate in the
implementation of the Immigration Restriction and other Acts newly passed,
so long as they were on the Statue Book. The Prime Minister wrote a personal
letter to Gandhi four days after the meeting, thanking him for having brought
about this accord and holding out an assurance that he would endeavour to
be worthy of the Indians' goodwill.

Henry Binns succeeded Harry Escombe. The latter, however, remained
powerful, though out of office. The new Prime Minister was in a dilemma
as far as the Indian question was concerned. He himself was disposed to be
flexible, but some of his cabinet colleagues made it difficult for him to have
his way. The result: loss of grace with the Secretary of State for
Colonies, who himself had been so indulgent towards the Natal whites, became
inevitable. Faced with this problem, he turned to Harry Escombe for advice.
The latter prepared a note explaining how the Immigration Restriction Act
could be administered in a manner that would offend nobody. For example,
the Natal Emigration Officers in India and the officials in Natal could be
instructed to give the necessary facilities to persons coming to the Colony
as visitors or seeking to pass through this territory. The working of the Act
could be smoothened by proper exercise of the power vested in the executive
to exempt any person from the operation of the law. The word 'immigration' in
the Act should not be applicable to Indians who, having settled in Natal, went
to India on a visit and came back to the colony. Harry Escombe emphasized
that if the hardships arising out of the operation of the Act were removed in
this way and the people concerned could be assured by the Government that
the powers vested in it under the Act would be exercised liberally, an
amendment of the Act should not be necessary. On the other hand, if the
administration proved itself incapable of functioning in a fair manner, the Act
would inevitably have to be amended.

Henry Binns sent this note to the Secretary of State for Colonies hoping
that Her Majesty's Government would feel satisfied in case the Immigration

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Restriction Act, without any amendment, was administered as proposed
in Harry Escombe's minute. In doing so, he gave an assurance regarding
his Government’s desire to implement the law in as lenient and liberal a
manner as possible. This was enough to end the prolonged row between
Lord George Hamilton and Joseph Chamberlain. Both of them felt placated
by the undertaking given by the Natal Government which, they should
have known, meant very little. The way Harry Escombe had behaved lately
was different from his earlier style of functioning. Had he been in power,
he would have probably seen to it that the law was implemented in a truly
liberal manner. What actually happened was altogether different. Before
long there was a fresh wave of anti-Indian propaganda. The atmosphere
was thick with rumours that there was a planned attempt to evade the
immigration Act and that many Indians were surreptitiously entering the
Colony. Gandhi took up this issue with determination and urged the
Government either to contradict the baseless allegations or institute a
public enquiry into the matter. The Government felt compelled to
acknowledge that it had no reason to believe that there was organized
defiance of the immigration Restriction Act.

There was, however, no let-up in the stringency with which the law
was administered. The stern warning received by the shipping companies,
about the action that would be taken against them if they brought
unauthorized Indian passengers, had scared them so much that they would
always err on the side cf over-caution. At the same time, interpretation of
the term 'domicile1 was absolutely unsparing: an Indian who wanted a
certificate to validate his entry into Natal was required to produce two affidavits
to the effect that he had been in the Colony doing some regular business for
a term of at least two years - a limitation which was not warranted by any
provision in the Act. This involved not only delay and inconvenience but
additional expenditure too by way of lawyers' fee besides the prescribed
remittance of half a crown at the treasury.

The Act, specifically meant to control immigration for permanent
settlement, was invoked with equal rigour for dealing with even casual
visitors to the Colony coming in for business purposes or to meet their
friends and relations. The pressure of Indians seeking entry for urgent
work from other parts of South Africa was met by introducing a security
deposit of £50 to ensure their return. In response to representations
against this system, the amount to be deposited was reduced to £1 0. The
persons coming in for embarkation at Durban were, however, required to
deposit £25. In addition, a non-refundable fee of £1 was prescribed for
each permit granted. What these regulations meant for a poor Indian
from any place in the Transvaal wishing to board a steamer at Durban for
India can be judged from the fact that the average cost of the deck
passage itself was about £3. As a result of continued prodding by Gandhi
the levy of £1 fee was abolished and the deposit of £25 for embarkation
passes was also reduced to £1 0 after some time.

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An Indian planning to leave his country and go to Natal could not be
confident of getting a passage even after he had overcome all other
hurdles. The agonizing Quarantine Act had rendered it extremely risky
for steamship companies to pick up passenger traffic from India. They
could not lose sight of the fact that on occasions there had been
wholesale return of steamers carrying Indian passengers. This was
causing serious loss and inconvenience to Indian merchants in Natal
in so far as there was no certainty when they could expect their partners
or employees to join them.

The harshness with which the immigration and quarantine laws were
applied did arrest fresh arrivals from Asian countries including Malaya
and China, etc. The principal aim, however, was to restrain the immigration
from India. After these laws came into force in 1897, 5,388 Indians were
refused admission till 1901. Out of 3,355 allowed to come in from India
there were 2,482 adults, of whom 2,295 secured entry by proving previous
domicile. Only 1 87 persons were admitted on fulfilment of the educational
requirement. The libera! manner in which the Natal Government had
undertaken to administer the law was nowhere visible. The sole aim was to
block coming in of free Indians and it was amply fulfilled.

***

While the methods adopted to prevent free Indians from coming
to Natal were unpardonably foul, those already there were being deprived
of the right to earn an honest living which they had enjoyed for years.
The Dealers' Licensing Act was an instrument of tyranny, wielded with
utter callousness. The town councils were mostly packed with individuals
either violently anti-Indian or at best apathetic. Many of them were
European merchants who looked at the competition offered by Indian
traders as a direct threat to their own business. In almost every local
body such elements were capable of exercising enough control over the
functioning of the Licensing Officer and influencing the final decision
when a case came up to the council on appeal.

The case of Somnath Maharaj, an Indian merchant, who made an
application for a license in early 1898 for a retail shop in Durban is a good
illustration of what was happening. He had come to Natal as an indentured labourer.
After completion of five years' service on contract, he had been in the Colony for
thirteen years as a free Indian. With great effort he had built up a small business
in an outlying town. He had held a valid license for about six years. He had
adequate capital to set up the shop he had applied for. He had his own house and
held a plot of freehold land in the borough. He had engaged the services of a
European book-keeper to meet the requirements of law. His shop was to be
located in an area largely inhabited by Indians. The Sanitary Inspector was
satisfied about the premises being suitable for the kind of store Somnath Maharaj
had in view. Three well-known European merchants had certified as to his
respectability and honest dealings. Everything was in his favour; and yet

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139

the Licensing Officer refused him a license without giving any reason for
the orders passed by him. When the applicant filed an appeal with the town
council, the Licensing Officer's view was upheld. Gandhi, who appeared on
behalf of Somnath Maharaj, forcefully argued before the council, sitting in the
capacity of a judicial tribunal, how unjust it was on its part to decline the
license. He also made an issue of the Town Clerk having refused to indicate
the reasons for this decision and to provide a copy of the case record.

The Supreme Court had already taken the view that, with the
Dealers' Licensing Act as it stood, it was not within its jurisdiction to hear
an appeal on the merits of a case. The appeal filed in this case was
entertained by the Supreme Court for consideration of the procedural
irregularities, namely, failure to disclose reasons for refusing the license,
withholding a copy of the case record, as also the fact that, while the
appeal was being heard, the councilors along with the Town Solicitor, the
Town Clerk and the Licensing Officer had retired for secret deliberations
into a private room. The Supreme Court quashed the proceedings of the
town council with costs in favour of the appellant and ordered a re¬
hearing. Delivering the judgment, the Acting Chief Justice had described
the action of the council as oppressive.

The town council re-heard the appeal. Paying no heed to the spirit
behind the strictures passed by the highest judicial tribunal of the country, it
again confirmed refusal of the license to Somnath Maharaj. All that it did was
to observe the formalities that had been disregarded earlier. The only reason
given for refusing the license was: the applicant had no claim whatsoever
upon Durban, as the class of trade he was engaged in was sufficiently provided
for in the town. No notice was taken of the fact that earlier too there was a
storekeeper on the premises where the shop was to be set up and he had left
Durban a few months earlier. Therefore, there was no question of increasing
the number of licenses. The premises in any case were suitable only for a
store. The interests of the landlord, himself an Indian and duly represented,
were also ignored.

A similar fate awaited the poor as well as the well-to-do Indians. At
one end stands the case of Hasan Mohammed who was denied the license
for hawking and forced into destitution. At the other extreme is the case
of Dada Osman, who was a successful merchant of long standing in Natal.
The Licensing Officer declined to entertain his application although there
was nothing objectionable in Dada Osman's antecedents and his business
project except that in the Licensing Officer's view he came under the
category of undesirables whom it was necessary to exclude from trade
and commerce. In that sense all Indians were unsuitable for this purpose.
Thus it became very clear that the Corporation's intention was to gradually
stamp out Indian commercial enterprise.

If there was any doubt, it was removed when Dada Osman's appeal
came up before the town council. An acknowledged anti-Indian councillor
moved that the Licensing Officer's decision be confirmed. No one for a

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little while got up to second the motion and it looked that the town council
was perhaps inclined to take a judicious view of the matter. The suspense
came to an end when J.R. Collins, a councillor holding a prominent position
in the public life of Natal, rose and seconded the motion with an explanation
which was reported on these lines: 'He was not surprised that there was a
great deal of reluctance on the part of the council to refuse the license. But
he believed that the license would be refused, and the reason was not because
the applicant or the premises were unsuitable but because the applicant was
an Indian. What Mr. Gandhi had said was perfectly true and he (Mr. Collins)
felt some relief in saying that most of these licenses had been refused mainly
on that ground. The council was placed in a very unhappy position in having
to carry out a policy which in the discretion of Parliament was considered
necessary.' Mr. Collins had clearly stated that the Natal Parliament had come
to the conclusion that an increased hold of Indians on the trade of Durban
was not in the interest of the Colony. The council, therefore, had to hold off
the licenses which were not otherwise objectionable. Even this explanation,
coming from a person who had for long held the office of Deputy Mayor, and
had more than once acted as Mayor, normally forthright, was not free from
sophistry. Gandhi had already pointed out, and J.R. Collins should have known
it, that the premises sought to be licensed had become vacant because the
previous license-holder (also an Indian) had closed his business. So there
was no question of an increase in the licenses held by Indians.

The motion was carried unanimously and the appeal dismissed. It
was a great disappointment for Gandhi. Sympathizing with him in his defeat,
the Natal Advertiser paid him a compliment for the able defence he had put
up. What could he have done when all canons of justice had been blown over
by a deliberately deceitful policy?

in Newcastle, the Licensing Officer went to the extent of refusing to
renew all the nine licenses held by Indian traders who were already in business.
When the matter went up before the town council, it came round to granting
six licenses out of nine but confirmed the Licensing Officer's decision in the
remaining three cases. The aggrieved persons went in appeal to the Supreme
Court which, by a majority vote, dismissed it on the ground that it had no
jurisdiction to entertain it. The whole issue having assumed great importance
and the Chief Justice having dissented from the other two judges, the matter
was taken to the Privy Council where the case was lost. The white colonists
were jubilant at the Privy Council's decision. But the few unbiased persons
felt very uneasy.

What happened in Dundee was even more disturbing. Atrade license
granted by the Licensing Officer to a Chinese settler was, on appeal by a
large number of tax-payers, cancelled by the local board solely on the
ground that the applicant was a non-European. In this case again the
Supreme Court refused to entertain the appeal. This was enough to scare
the Indian businessmen in that town, numbering about ten. The panic
among them increased still further when the chairman of the local board,

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141

under the white residents' pressure, convened a special meeting to
specifically discuss 'the advisability of allowing Asiatics to trade in the
township.' He frankly stated in his opening remarks that it was the board's
endeavour, if possible, 'to rid the town of the Asiatic curse.' After a brief
discussion, one of the members proposed that the local board should 'do all
in its power to prevent the granting of further licenses to undesirables; that
the Licensing Officer... be instructed to this effect; and that steps be taken
to cancel as many of these licenses as possible .' The proposal was
unanimously carried, amidst cheers. The 'undesirables' referred to in this
motion obviously meant the British Indian traders. The injustice of this course
of action was beyond doubt. But it represented the prevalent thinking of the
local bodies dominated by the European commercial interests. Howsoever
few the persons who thought differently, they did not hesitate to criticise the
licensing law that had put 'into the hands of interested parties the power to
push out a competition which is beneficial to the multitude and enables
these interested parties to fill their own pockets.'

Things were getting difficult almost everywhere. Both the Immigration
Restriction and Dealers' Licensing Acts were in theory applicable to all but
were in practice mostly enforced against the immigrants from India. Gandhi
attached special importance to the licensing issue for two reasons. He
deeply felt the suffering caused to the individuals directly affected by it. He
was equally conscious of the long-term effect the exclusion of Indian traders
from their share in business would have on the future of the entire Indian
community in the Colony. As the year 1 898 came to a close, Gandhi could
see that the only course open was to again seek the intervention of Her
Majesty's Government. He prepared a well-documented petition about the
prejudicial manner in which the Dealers' Licensing Act was being operated.
Submitted on December 31 , 1 898 and containing a graphic picture of the
happenings in Durban, Newcastle and Dundee, it forcefully demonstrated
the hideous process of gradually weeding out the Indian storekeepers: 'Every
storekeeper is. ..in a state of feverish anxiety. The suspense is dreadful.
The larger houses, fearing that their customers (small storekeepers) might
be refused their licenses, ... have become despondent and hesitate to clear
their goods.' The central point of the argument was: 'If the licensing authorities
were, year by year, to wipe out some small Indian storekeepers, it would
not require many years to bring down the larger houses without... having to
refuse their licenses.' What the petitioners prayed for was a 'strong
remonstrance and advice' to the Government of Natal to amend the Licensing
Act so as to eliminate the scope for injustice. The petition was not without
a sting in its tail: 'But if this be not possible ... the colony should no longer
be allowed to enjoy the privilege of using Indian labour which is acknowledged
to be indispensable for its advancement.'

The outcry against downright injustice could not be easily ignored.
The Colonial Office this time found it necessary to consult the India Office.
Incidentally it also asked for some concrete facts from the Natal

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Government. Information received: 683 licenses held by Indian traders in
April 1 899 against 844 before the Licensing Act of 1 897 was passed; hawkers'
licenses held by Indians down from 465 to 191; eating-house licenses,
governed by another law, down from 49 to 28. With these figures before
him, Joseph Chamberlain felt obliged to deprecate the manner in which the
Act had been enforced and demand an amendment of the law so as to give
the aggrieved persons the right of appeal to the Supreme Court. He even
made it clear to the Natal Government that unless the proposed amendment
to the Act was passed and fair and equitable treatment to Indian settlers
assured, the Government of India may have to suspend the supply of
indentured labour to the Colony.

It was not simple to force the Natal Government into quick action. It
was some months before the local boards and town councils were asked to
exercise caution in refusing licenses to the Indians so as not to interfere
with established interests, failing which the Government would have to
introduce legislation granting applicants the right of appeal against the
decisions of the local bodies.

This was the first ray of hope seen by the Indian community after a
long time, but Gandhi did not feel satisfied with it. He knew that this
admonition might persuade the municipalities to relent temporarily to
restart the same old game after some time. So he continued to maintain
pressure for amendment of the law. The matter was still hanging fire when
the Boer War broke out and as long as it lasted no one heard a thing
about the refusal of licenses.

THE TRANSVAAL SCENE

The small Indian community in the Transvaal was, as it were, caught
in a whirlpool. Right from the beginning, it had suffered all the ills that the
Voortrekker dogma of racial inequality could have caused. The economic lure
that brought Indians to the republic had also drawn a large mass of non-Boer
white immigrants, mostly Englishmen and Scots, covered by the common
appellation ' uitlanders . 1 Even while the latter were struggling for political rights
encroached upon by the ruling Boers, as British subjects they never thought
it necessary to be on good terms with their Indian counterparts. As a matter
of fact, prejudicially disposed against the temperate and thrifty Indian
merchants with whom it was difficult for them to compete, they were at one
with the T ransvaal Government as far as its anti-Indian policy was concerned.
The Secretary of State for Colonies was prepared to go to any length to
support the cause of the uitianders but when it came to Indians, he would
grudge the smallest help. With de Villiers' award having gone against them,
their future was dependent on the outcome of another test case in the court
of law as to the interpretation of Act 3 of 1 885 as amended in 1 886. (p.1 06)
No such case could be instituted by the Indian community for a long time
because of difficulty regarding funds which Her Majesty's Government had
declined to provide though it was morally bound to do so.

In the meantime, the European commercial houses were getting
impatient at the delay being caused in driving the Indian and other Asian
traders out of towns. Under their pressure the Volksraad passed a
resolution twice for early enforcement of the law. The administration had
not gone ahead with it because of the time taken in settling certain
procedural issues. The legislators, however, could not have ignored the
rising wave of indignation among the Europeans against dilly-dailying on
the Government's part. Consequently another resolution was passed by
the Raad whereupon specific orders were issued to the Indians on December
1 4, 1 897 to go into locations by the end of the month. It was in response
to the issue of a notice requiring Haji Mohammed Khan Tyeb, among
other Indian merchants, to vacate his residential and working premises in
Pretoria before the first day of January 1 898, that the Indians filed a suit in
the High Court. Gandhi had to keep a close watch on its progress and
help the counsel to whom the case had been entrusted.*

* Gandhi had started taking active interest in the Transvaal affairs in early 1895. With the
situation in the republic getting more and more difficult for its small Indian community,
Gandhi's Involvement with its problems had increased.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

***

While the case was going on, there were two inconsistent reactions
to the Indian community's initiative in seeking a legal remedy to their ouster
from the towns. The Executive Council received petitions from a number of
towns protesting against the removal of Indian and Chinese shopkeepers
from whom the less affluent householders could purchase their daily needs
at lower prices and on more easy-going credit than from the stores owned by
Europeans. At the same time, the Transvaal administration set itself to
persecuting the Indians by enforcing prejudicial laws and municipal regulations
on a scale that was unknown before. There were numerous prosecutions for
walking on street pavements or moving out after 9 p.m. without a pass.
Because of some cab-drivers licensed for transport of white passengers having
been fined for carrying Indian merchants, it became impossible for an Asian
to avail himself of such transport even in an emergency.

Whatever was done in the Transvaal on behalf of the Indian settlers
there was continuing to be, in good measure, an extension of the Natal-
based merchants' political activity. With a small number of Gujarati firms
controlling most of the Indian capital invested in Natal as well as in the
Transvaal, their dominance in both the colonies was inevitable. It is, however,
necessary to take note of some distinguishing features of the Transvaal scene.
First, the thorny factor of indentured labour was not there. Secondly, the
proportion of politically conscious petty traders, largely drawn from the more
active elements among Natal's ex-indentured labourers and their descendants,
as compared to the entire Indian population, was large. Thirdly, there was no
substantive disparity between the affluent and the ordinary class of Indians in
this Colony, regarding the dispensation that the law held out for them. Thus
there was a lesser degree of heterogeneity in the Transvaal Indian politics. In
any case, most of the decision-making relevant thereto was in the hands of
the Natal Congress leadership.

Alfred Milner*, the British High Commissioner in South Africa at this
time, alive to the growing anti-Asiatic surge throughout the subcontinent,
had come to the conclusion early enough that the British would have to
'bend to the blast', if it was not to overwhelm them. He was equally conscious
of the imperative need to deal with the situation with great care, particularly
so in the Transvaal. Such, in essence, was his thinking, when he partly as
a matter of moral duty and partly on grounds of expediency directed his
Agent at Pretoria to move the Transvaal administration about the Indian
community's grievances and seek redress. There was little concrete gain
as a result of this intervention except that about the prosecution of Indians

* An ardent imperialist, Alfred Milner had rapidly risen to prominence. Before his appoint¬
ment as British High Commissioner in South Africa and Governor of the Cape Colony in
1897 at the age of 43, he had served with distinction in Egypt (1889-92) and as Chairman
of the Board of Inland Revenue (1892-97).

THE TRANSVAAL SCENE

145

for non-possession of passes it was accepted that there had been a
misunderstanding on the part of some officials and that it would be removed.
On other issues there was no positive response. Milner apprised Joseph
Chamberlain of the unsatisfactory state of affairs in the T ransvaal and hoped
that he would react to it stoutly. Chamberlain, viewing the matter in the
overall South-African perspective, wrote back to Milner: 'I presume you are
kept fully informed of the position of British Indians in Natal where they are
subject to certain disabilities, the existence of which might render it difficult
for Her Majesty's Government to criticise or to resist the action of the
Government of the South African Republic in similar circumstances.’
Nevertheless, by bringing the grievances of the Indian population in the
Transvaal into focus, Milner had lent greater respectability to his crusade
against the BoerAfrikanderdom.

The 'coolie test case', as it was commonly known, was decided by
the High Court in early August 1 898. The verdict, with one judge out of three
dissenting, went against the Indians. It had been contended from the
Indian side that the British Indian subjects were entitled to full benefit of the
London Convention entered into between Britain and the South African Republic
in 1884. Article 14 of the agreement had provided that ail British subjects
would have the right to reside and carry on business in any part of the republic.
Law 3 of 1 885 as amended in 1 886 was in direct conflict with the provisions
made in the Convention of 1 884 and was, therefore, ultra vires. Even assuming
that by virtue of the British Government having given its assent to the Act of
1885/86 the Indians were to be governed by it, the Transvaal Government
could only fix places of residence in separate locations for Asians, but it
could in no way restrict their right to trade in any part of the republic. These
arguments, however, failed to produce much effect. The majority judgment of
the High Court upheld the altogether untenable dictum that 'place of business'
was also covered by the term 'residence'.

The Indian settlers were now in great panic. The future before them
was very bleak. Gandhi looked at the whole affair as a serious threat to
the survival of Indians in the Transvaal. The first thing done was the despatch
of a cable to the Viceroy Lord Cruzon. It was followed by a communication
to the Indian National Congress requesting that body to use its influence
to obtain the Government of India's intervention. All those in London who
could lend support were brought into the picture. The pressure put through
these channels on the India Office and the Secretary of State for Colonies
brought no relief. Joseph Chamberlain was too much engrossed with the
other aspects of the South African problem, particularly the uitlanders'
issue.

The attitude of the Transvaal Government on the Indian question was
that of half-hearted willingness to accommodate British Indians to the

146

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

extent possible without departing from the principle of a legal distinction
between the whites and coloured persons incorporated into the laws of
the republic and regulations framed by the local bodies. Firmness in that
regard was, however, mingled with a certain degree of leniency in the
manner of enforcing the measures. Even after the Executive Council passed
a resolution on November 15, 1898 about removal of the British Indian
traders from the towns within the given time, the Transvaal administration
did not show too great an impatience in its implementation. The matter
remained under negotiation for some time between the British Agent and
the State Attorney. In view of the parleys aimed at working out a settlement
of some sort, the removal notice was suspended on January 30, 1899 and
steps were taken to issue the trading and hawking licenses for the first
quarter of the year.

According to the draft proposals that emerged from the aforesaid talks,
the existing traders of the coloured class and their employees were to be left
undisturbed in their places of business subject to some restrictive
conditions regarding the transfer of such establishments to successors of
the present proprietors. But it was to be obligatory for the future immigrants
to reside and trade in separate locations and also to pay a registration fee of
£3. A compromise on these lines amounted to securing some limited
concessions to the existing Indian interests by prejudicing the new entrants'
position and by surrendering the rights that could still be claimed on behalf of
the Cape coloureds who were not covered by the law of
1 885/86. The latter implication could not have been to the liking of Chamberlain
and Milner. It is precisely on this point that they found fault with the proposals.
They were of the view that the proposed agreement, by compromising the
status still held by Cape coloureds in the Transvaal would further whittle
down the British claim to suzerainty over the South African Republic under
Article XIV of the London Convention, an issue far more important to Britain
than anything concerning the Asiatic community.

Before any further talks could take place, the Transvaal Government
issued a proclamation prohibiting the entry of Asians into the republic and
restricting the freedom of their movement in the T ransvaal as a precautionary
measure against the danger of bubonic plague reported to have affected
Mauritius. The British immediately protested that this proclamation made
without consultation with them was a violation of Article XIV of the
Convention. The protest was meant more to reassert British suzerainty
than to protect the Asians against injustice. A slight modification of the
proclamation was enough to put the High Commissioner at ease and pave
the way for resumption of talks, but a settlement was out of question. In
the face of insistence by the British to keep the coloured aliens from the
Cape out of the picture, the Transvaal Government was not prepared to
relent on the Asiatic issue. On the other hand, Milner was not prepared to
barter away the rights of other coloured people in exchange for an
acceptable dispensation for the Asians.

THE TRANSVAAL SCENE

147

In the meantime, the Executive Council of the South African Republic
had again passed a resolution that the Asiatic coloured persons should move
out to the locations by June 30. The Indian traders and hawkers were once
more faced with a nightmare. The people to be affected included the owners
of over 600 stores, big and smail, and about 4,800 hawkers. The final notice
of expulsion could not but dislocate their business and give rise to a sense of
insecurity among them. The British Government was not inclined to make a
serious issue of the Indian problem. Having acquiesced in the Arbitrator's
award, it was obliged to swallow the interpretation placed by the High Court
on the existing law.

The Agent in Pretoria kept in touch with the Transvaal administration
to see that implementation of the orders was not too painful to the Indians.
The saving grace at the time was the role of Jan Christian Smuts* who as
State Attorney had an active say in his Government on the Indian issue. His
endeavour was that the provision made in the recent order for the Indians in
difficulty to seek special dispensation did not remain a dead letter. He
assured the Agent that the administration had no desire to deal harshly
with the Indian traders who were well-established and could not easily move
because of their long-term leases and other legal contracts. The object of
the Government, according to him, was 'rather to restrict immigration in
future than to interfere unduly with those who had settled in the towns and
put money into their business.'

Gandhi was not content with the mercies the T ransvaal authorities chose
to extend to the aggrieved Indians. What his legal mind considered
inevitable was submission to the interpretation of the High Court that the word
'habitation' included the dwelling site as well as the place of business. He held
that under the law of 1885 (amended in 1886), as it stood, the Transvaal
administration could segregate the persons covered by it only for sanitary
reasons. It should, therefore, prove to the satisfaction of Her Majesty's
Government that sanitary reasons did exist for the persons required to move
out and that those reasons, and those alone, guided their action. Gandhi was
further of the view that the law gave the South African Republic power to send
the persons covered by it to specified streets, wards and locations for habitation
in the respective townships, and not to relegate them to places where they
could not carry on their business. He incorporated these arguments in a memorial
addressed to Joseph Chamberlain on May 1 6, 1 899. The memorialists drew his
attention to the enormous interests that were at stake and the ruin they would

* Born in a Dutch family which owned a farm near Riebeck West in the Cape Colony, Jan
Christian Smuts had had during his early years a good deal of experience in manual work. At
the same time he did very well in his studies. After graduation, he went over to England and
distinguished himself as a law student in Cambridge and then in the Inns of Court, London.
Soon after his return to Cape Town in 1895 he was drawn to politics. To start with, he
supported Cecil Rhodes. But after Jameson's misadventure in the Transvaal, Smuts felt
disillusioned with Rhodes. His law practice had not yet picked up when he moved to Johan¬
nesburg and then to Pretoria. He was only 28 when as State Attorney he found himself the
right-hand man of President Paul Kruger.

148

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

suffer if their removal to the locations was enforced . They pleaded for some
definite and satisfactory solution of the problem to be arrived at.

As time ran out, the Indians felt more and more uneasy. The settlers
in Pretoria were perturbed at the callousness with which the Asiatic location
even in this capital city had been planned. It was an out-of-the-way place
close to the dumping-ground for garbage, with a drain receiving all the filth
from the cantonment passing alongside. The place was without satisfactory
arrangements for water supply or for removal of night-soil. The corresponding
scheme for Johannesburg was no better. The site chosen had an additional
disadvantage of more difficult access from the city centre. The stage-coach
fare for a person to reach within a mile of the location was three shillings.

It so happened that President Kruger was not at this time in a position
to add to his problems. When the notices asking the Asians to move to the
locations expired on June 30, the general order was again not enforced.
Anyone could get three months' extension for the asking. Those having fixed
property acquired before the passage of the 1885/86 law or holding lease
deeds executed before 1 889 were granted extension of licenses as long as
they maintained their existing status. The cases under special
consideration on one ground or the other were allowed to linger on.

This waiting game could not have permitted the Indian traders to
feel at ease. Gandhi continued his efforts to secure for them a better deal
through representations and personal contacts with the British Agent and
the Transvaal State Secretary, but he could not make much headway. The
British Government did not like to press the T ransvaal authorities too hard
as it would have antagonized the British settlers who were at the back of
the anti-Asiatic movement. This consideration continued to guide Joseph
Chamberlain until he felt confident that the British public opinion in South
Africa was solidly behind the Whitehall policy of a showdown with the
Boer republic. When there was no doubt left on that account, Chamberlain
asked the High Commissioner to notify to the Transvaal Government the
British claim for 'strict compliance with the sanitary reasons for applying
the (segregation) law of 1 885 to exempt Indians who can produce a medical
certificate that their premises are not insanitary ...' This is what Gandhi
wanted. The British Government was now in a different mood. The Indian
traders were told on its behalf to ignore the notices. They continued not
only to trade but even to reside outside the locations. One of the demands
the British Government ultimately made was for 'the concession of most¬
favoured-nation rights to Great Britain ... in all matters affecting British
interests or the position of British subjects, whether white or coloured.'
This step was taken only when the war had become inevitable.

THE ANGLO-BOER WAR

The British Government's claim of suzerainty over the Transvaal in
terms of the Pretoria Convention (1 881 ) which, as it claimed, was not in any
way affected by the London Convention (1884), and the Boer republic's
reservations about it had been the cause of constant tension between them .
This factor was in turn influencing their approach to the problems connected
with the future of uitlanders, Cape coloureds and Asians — all of them important
constituents of the T ransvaal population. Of course, the cause closest to the
British Government's heart was that of the uitlanders.

Cecil Rhodes, supreme in the Cape for six years from 1 890 to 1 896,
was eager to extend British influence throughout South Africa. He made an
alliance with Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, the leader of the Afrikander Bond, standing
for co-operation between the English-speaking and the Dutch sections and
opposed to the Voortrekker dogma of racial inequality. Rhodes believed that,
with the help of the Bond, it would be possible to achieve a South African
federation under British protection, though he was aware that it would not be
easy to outmanoeuvre the Transvaal President, Paul Kruger. A mighty
commercial empire was a part of Rhodes' political strategy. The strong man
of the diamond fields in Kimberley, he also controlled a large part of the gold¬
mining industry that gave birth to Johannesburg. He kept in touch with all the
happenings in that restless city and had a deep sympathy for the uitlanders,
fighting for their political rights. Unable to secure redress of their grievances
by constitutional means, they planned for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting
the Kruger regime and establishing one that would cooperate with Great
Britain. Rhodes, to whom Anglo-Saxon imperialism was no less than a religion,
lent his support to the attempted coup and helped its leaders with funds and
weaponry. His friend L.S. Jameson* assembled a small force in the mining
company's territory close to the border. The understanding was that the
uitlanders would seize Johannesburg and Pretoria and simultaneously
Jameson's men would march in. All this could not have been without the
Secretary of State for Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, knowing it. Even so,

* A medical man by profession, he too like Cecil Rhodes had come to South Africa for
health reasons. He had set up practice at Kimberley where he met Rhodes. From that point
onward he was more a politician than a doctor.

150

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

the whole thing turned out to be a complete fiasco. Jameson's raid*,
pitched before the inland supporters were ready, was easily trounced by the
Transvaal Government. This misadventure meant a great set-back to the
uitlanders' cause. It helped Kruger consolidate his power. It brought the two
Boer republics closer to each other. It also contributed to Rhodes' downfall
and the end of his political career.

For some time the uitlanders had to lie low. It was more than two
years before they could again raise their head. By this time Alfred Milner,
who had come to South Africa as High Commissioner in May 1 897 with a
resolve to crush Afrikanderdom, was able to persuade Joseph Chamberlain
that Kruger would yield only to the big stick. It was precisely on this
problem that the South African League, founded about this time to uphold
British supremacy, concentrated all its pressure. In January 1899, over
21 ,000 white British subjects in the Transvaal submitted a petition to Her
Majesty asking for political rights equal to those enjoyed by the Boers.
The British Government demanded for the uitlanders the right of franchise
based on five years' residence in the republic. Kruger was prepared to
bend a little, but not to the extent the other side wanted. When the matter
was discussed in June 1899 in a conference at Bloemfontein between
Milner and Kruger, the latter could not go beyond an elaborately guarded
seven-year franchise. Milner, arrogant and ruthless, was determined to
have his pound of flesh, not an ounce less. So the talks failed. Jan Smuts,
as State Attorney, was by President Kruger's side during the conference.
Though quite impressed by this young man's intellectual sharpness, Milner
ignored him to the point of giving an impression of contempt for a nonentity.
He and his President left the place with a belief that Milner was bent upon
war. The latter did not like to bury the hatchet even when the Transvaal
Government unilaterally gave a seven-year franchise along with some other
concessions. The subsequent offer of a five-year franchise subject to certain
conditions was also repudiated.

The inevitable war was in sight. It was at this stage that Britain,
among other things, called upon the Transvaal Government to grant equal
civil rights to the non-white British subjects in the republic. Even before
this profoundly hypocritical proposition was put forward, the British
Government was busy sending troops to South Africa. The Orange Free
State was prepared to make common cause with the Transvaal. President
Kruger did not want to give the British more time for concentration. He
himself took the initiative and issued an ultimatum demanding immediate
withdrawal of British troops and asking for an answer within forty-eight hours.

* It was carried out in December 1895 by a force of 600 men led by L.S. Jameson who was
at that time Administrator of the British South Africa Company whose Managing Director
was Cecil Rhodes himself. The Transvaal Government handed Jameson over to the
British au-thorities. Whatever was the role of Rhodes or Chamberlain, Jameson was
sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. That was not the end of his political career. He was
to play a leading part in the Cape politics from 1904 to 1907.

THEANGLO-BOERWAR

151

As soon as the time given was over, the Boers launched an attack in all
possible directions. They could not be unaware of the handicaps in their fight
against the mighty British Empire.

While the war clouds were gathering the uitlanders started leaving
the Transvaal in large numbers. The residents of Johannesburg were in
utter panic. The British whites were anxious about getting away before
things became too hot. The Indians were equally nervous. Natal was the
only place where they could take refuge, but the Immigration Restriction
Act in force in that Colony was an obstacle not easy to overcome.
Although this law was meant to apply to all, in actual operation it worked
differentially. The European refugees could enter Natal without any
difficulty. There were special arrangements to receive them and provide
them every possible facility. For Indians, however, the law was applicable
in all its rigour. A small shopkeeper wanting to leave for Natal had to
close his business in distress, find resources to fend for a livelihood at
the new place, incur the travelling expenses for his family and assistants
and furnish £10 per head as security deposit.

Gandhi tried to build up pressure on the administration to suspend
the Immigration Restriction Act during this crisis. Its first reaction was
that the Government had no power to do so under the Act. In response to
a further representation, all that it conceded was that in dealing with the
problem the Government would be influenced by considerations of humanity
and in the event of hostilities breaking out it would not exercise its power
unreasonably or oppressively. Gandhi felt that, after the fighting had started,
the people might find it impossible to leave the Transvaal. He wrote about
this time: The Natal Government... have done their best... to shake the
faith of the poor Indians in British justice ... Strange as it may appear, a
cablegram today announces that, in reply to repeated representations
from Natal, the Imperial Government have ordered the despatch of 1 0,000
troops from India for the protection of Natal which refuses to give temporary
shelter to Indians from the Transvaal...'

Gandhi continued to protest against the Natal Government's attitude.
It was some time before Milner intervened and on his recommendation the
Natal authorities temporarily dispensed with the security deposit that was
a big problem for the poor among Indians. So late was the concession
given, that the families in distress could not escape before the passenger
traffic between Johannesburg and Durban was stopped. The refugees could
now move out only via Delagoa Bay. While the Europeans had no difficulty
in making use of this route, the shipping companies would not easily give
passage to the Indians because of an old restrictive order from the Natal
Government. Again Gandhi had to approach the Natal Government and
bring it round to rescinding the instructions in that regard. The Indian
community in Natal for its part did not leave anything undone about the
arrangements required to be made to deal with its refugee problem without
much help from the administration.

152

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

***

The Anglo-Boer War broke out on October 11,1 899. The Boers and
Britons were fighting for their respective rights. The Indians, who had
suffered at the hands of both, were in a dilemma. There was no easy answer
to the question: what should be their role in this war on the South African
subcontinent? Gandhi thought over it carefully. He was aware of the fact that
some liberal-minded people in Britain itself were opposed to their country
having gone in for an armed conflict over a dispute that was still amenable to
negotiated settlement. His personal sympathies were also with the Boers.
He admired their spirit of sacrifice and the price they were prepared to pay for
their independence. At the same time, he was not oblivious of the sufferings
his own countrymen had gone through because of the anti-Indian policies of
the Transvaal Boer regime. For that matter, the Anglo-Saxon whites had
oppressed the Indians as badly as the Boers. Should then the Indians keep
themselves aloof from a war between two parties both of whom had been
unfair to them? This idea did not appeal to Gandhi. He could not lose sight of
the fact that the Indians had all along claimed equal rights as British subjects.
As such it was their duty to participate in the war on behalf of the United
Kingdom. There was another consideration. It was commonly held by the
British whites that Indians in Natal were all after making money and if ever
the country was in danger they could not expect them to render the slightest
help. The present crisis was an opportunity that had come their way to disprove
this belief. Howsoever deep was his respect for Tolstoy's ideas on the subject
of war, Gandhi had on this occasion chosen to look at the specific problem
he was faced with strictly from the stand-point of Indians’ moral obligation
toward the state to which they owed allegiance.

Within a week, about one hundred persons representing the Indian
community in Durban, met under the aegis of the Natal Congress to consider
the issue and determine their course of action. There were many among
them who were not in favour of helping the British. Some of them looked at
the matter purely in terms of expediency. There was no certainty that the
British would win the war. In case they were defeated, the Boers would like
to settle scores with all those who supported the British. Gandhi was not
impressed by this reasoning. According to him, if the British were committed
to the assurance of equal rights to be given to the Indians under the Royal
Proclamation of 1858, the latter must not now lag behind in the discharge
of their duty as British subjects.

The conviction with which Gandhi put forward his case and the
arguments he presented in support of his viewpoint could not have failed to
win over the participants in this meeting. At his instance, a good number of
persons present volunteered to work without pay in whatever capacity the
Government needed their services. The members of the trading class, unable
to go to the battlefield, agreed to contribute toward maintenance of the
dependents of those volunteers who needed such support. Gandhi

THEANGLO-BOERWAR

153

lost no time in addressing a letter to the Natal Government communicating
this offer making particular mention of their suitability for service in the field
hospitals or the commissariat.

The Natal Government, while appreciating the spirit in which the
above offer had been made, stated that their services were not needed for
the time being. The disappointing reply failed to dissuade Gandhi from
going ahead with the preparations. He put all the volunteers through a
medical examination and arranged for those declared fit, including himself,
to undergo ambulance training, in the charitable hospital superintended
by Rev. Dr. Booth. This initiative on Gandhi's part not only drew a surge of
applause from the Natal Press, it also enhanced his standing in the eyes
of his compatriots. Within the Natal Congress, most people had by now
come to recognize his moral authority.

In the first phase of the war the Boers, who were on an all-out offensive,
had put the British forces under severe pressure. Mafeking and Kimberley
had been besieged. The British troops had been routed at Stormberg in Cape
Colony. In the Free State, the attempt made by the British force to reach
Kimberley was thwarted. From the Boers' point of view the Natal campaign
was the most important. They wanted to overrun the Colony swiftly and reach
the sea coast. They seized 500 miles of railway and had nearly half of Natal
under their heel. Ladysmith, a small garrison town, but strategically very
important, was under siege. So much now depended on General Buller, who
was amassing his troops to mount a frontal attack on the Boer position and
relieve Ladysmith. To be ready for a major action, this force needed an elaborate
ambulance cover. As part of the preparatory work, hospitals were being
improvised and doctors, nurses and bearers were being rushed to the front.
Taking this opportunity, Gandhi intimated to the Government the way he and
his associates had been trained for ambulance work and renewed the offer to
perform whatever duties could be assigned to them. About this time, General
Buller asked the Natal Government to raise an Indian Ambulance Corps to
meet the requirement of about 1 ,000 stretcher-bearers for carrying the wounded
from the field to the hospitals. At the Government's request, Gandhi raised a
corps of about 1 ,100 Indians, two-thirds of them being indentured labourers
and the rest free Indians. Dr. Booth had to try hard before the volunteers
trained by him were taken to act as leaders of the stretcher-bearers. The
good doctor himself joined the Corps as its Medical Superintendent. The
leaders served without any payment. The stretcher-bearers received £1 per
week plus rations. Some of them, of course, had been earning more in their
respective vocations. Gandhi's capacity for leadership at this point of time is
evident from the spontaneity with which the Indians in Natal had rallied round
to form the ambulance corps.

154

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The first call for active service at the front came on December 13,1 899.
Before their departure, the leaders of the corps were invited by Harry Escombe
to a tea party on the spacious lawn of his bungalow. Touched by the eagerness
with which these persons had answered the call of duty, he assured them
that they would have the good wishes of all the people in Natal. Apart from
anything else, this get-together was a token of the old man's adoration for
Gandhi's nobility.

The Indian Corps did excellent work in removing the wounded soldiers
and officers from the field to the base hospital as a sequel to the battle of
Colenso that the British lost with heavy casualties. Hunger, lack of rest or
any kind of physical hardship did notfor a moment bother the Indian stretcher-
bearers and their leaders. On conclusion of this task, which in the event
became an integral part of the retreat that had to be effected by the vanquished
force under General Buller's command, the corps was temporarily
disembodied. One memory of this brief phase of war service lingered long in
Gandhi's mind. Among those mortally wounded in the battle of Colenso was
Field-Marshal Lord Roberts'* own son. The young officer had led a troop right
into Boer fire to save the British fighting equipment. Wounded three times, he
insisted on being left where he had fallen lest his removal should hamper the
action. The chivalrous subaltern was carried from the field hospital to Chieverly
camp by the bearers of the Indian Corps. Gandhi wrote about it later: 'It was
a sultry day... Everyone was thirsting for water. There was a tiny brook on the
way where we could slake our thirst. But who was to drink first? We had
proposed to come in after the tommies had finished. But they would not
begin first and urged us to do so, and for a while a pleasant competition went
on for giving precedence to one another.' Gandhi's faith in human goodness
was rein-forced by experiences of this nature.

irk-k

On his return from the field, Gandhi resumed his normal work. One
day, while returning to his office in the Mercury Lane after lunch, he saw
Harry Escombe coming from the opposite direction on the other side of the
road. To Gandhi's pleasant surprise, old Harry crossed the street, came
over to him and said: 'Mr. Gandhi, I have long wished to tell you something
that has been on my mind. I am extremely sorry for what happened to you
during the demonstration at the Point on your landing at Durban. I had
never realised there was so much Christian charity locked up in the Indian
breast.' He then went on to explain with deep regret that when he passed
his anti-Asiatic measures, he did not know the Indian community as he

* A renowned military officer of outstanding calibre, Roberts had earned a great name
during the operations in Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880. He was Commander-in-Chief of
the Indian army from 1885 to 1893. In 1895 he was given the rank of Field - Marshal and
posted as Commander-in-Chief in Ireland. As an answer to the early reverses suffered by
the British in the Anglo-Boer war in 1899, he was appointed to the supreme command in
South Africa.

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155

came to know later. He expressed the hope that time would remove any
inconvenience that the Indians might have to suffer owing to the legislation.
Gandhi broke into a smile and told Harry Escombe that he believed in 'let
by-gones be by-gones’. He also expressed the hope that there would be
plenty of occasions for them to meet and work together for the common
good in future. Parting on this cordial note, Gandhi proceeded to his office.
At the end of the day's work, on getting back home, he had hardly settled
down in the lounge, when a servant from his neighbour's house came
running and told Gandhi that Harry Escombe was no more. He had suffered
a heart attack during his walk and it had proved fatal. One is left mystified
by the kind of inner urge that impelled Harry Escombe to go out of the
way and open his heart to Gandhi moments before he was to be overtaken
by the shadow of death.

***

Following their triumph at Colenso, the Boers had established them¬
selves on the hills overlooking Ladysmith so well that General Bulier had
lost hope of being able to relieve this key point. He, in fact, suggested to
the commander of the besieged garrison to surrender, which the latter did
not like to do. Buller's despatch to London, reporting the desperate situation
he was in, left Whitehall stunned. He was directed to make a more
unremitting effort or, if he was unwilling to do it, give up the Natal command
and return home. Simultaneously, the War Office arranged for providing
larger reinforcements. The supreme command in South Africa was given to
Lord Roberts of Kandhar fame and Kitchner* was appointed his Chief of
Staff. General Bulier undertook to make another attempt to force his way to
Ladysmith. For this action the Indian Ambulance Corps was re-summoned.
Gandhi assembled about 500 stretcher-bearers and most of the former
leaders within ten days. Dr. Booth again agreed to act as the Medical
Superintendent. He put the corps through a short course of intensive training.
By the time they were called to the front they had been conditioned to work
under strict military discipline.

This time the task given to the Indian corps was more arduous. The
reverses suffered by the British atSpion Kop and Vaalkrantz had involved heavy
casualties. For removal of the wounded from the field hospital it was necessary to
enter the danger zone. Itwas put across to the Indians that under the terms of their
contract they were at liberty to say 'no' but the command would appreciate it if they
could undertake the extra risk. With one voice the leaders and the stretcher-
bearers offered to go across the firing line. For more than a month the Indian Corps
was charged with the most strenuous duties. There were occasions when the wounded
had to be carried over a distance of 25 miles in a single day on difficult terrain

* Later he succeeded Roberts as the Supreme Commander in November 1900. In October
1 902 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Indian army and he held that command
up to 1 909.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

under a scorching sun. Gandhi himself, having one of the platoons under his
personal command, saw to it that all the needs of the wounded were met
properly even if he and his associates had to incur some expenditure from
their own pockets. They did not mind sparing some part of their own rations.
When General Woodgate fell badly wounded, he was carried to the base
hospital under Gandhi's care. The General was in such agony that not a
minute could be lost on the way lest he should die before they could reach
the camp. The performance of the light-footed Indian bearers on this task
won them praise from many quarters.

It was on February 28, 1 900 that General Buller’s forces could enter
Ladysmith, ending its four-month-old siege. The town, littered with debris
and dirt, was in serious danger of an epidemic. So the place was in immediate
need of improved sanitation. Gandhi was asked if he would be able to provide
200 men required to clean the place thoroughly. Even this work was
undertaken and completed with diligence and pride, whereafter the corps
was demobilized with a proviso that it would be reassembled if operations on
a large scale were again to be launched.

In the meantime, the new Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Roberts
had decided to concentrate on an offensive along the Cape-Bloemfontein-Pretoria
axis. By then enough reinforcements had arrived and his army set out to make
a clean sweep through the Orange Free State. This was the turning-point of the
war. The troops led by General French dislodged the Boers holding Kimberley
under siege. The main force captured Bloemfontein. After pausing there for
some time, Lord Roberts resumed his march to the north. There was no difficulty
in relieving Mafeking. Both Johannesburg and Pretoria were occupied in early
June. By October all the key points in both the republics were in British
occupation. Kruger had crossed into Portuguese East Africa, wherefrom he left
for Europe to seek help so desperately needed by his people. Nowhere could
the august old man get anything more than gestures of courtesy.

The Boers, though thoroughly vanquished, did not like to acknowledge
defeat. Aroused by Martinus Steyn (President of the Free State), Louis
Botha, de Wet and de la Rey* organized guerrilla bands and continued to
fight. Jan Smuts also joined them and was soon adept in the ’hit and run*
tactics. The guerrilla fighting lasted for a year and a half and was

* These illustrious persons were amongst the great heroes of the Anglo-Boer War. Martinus
Steyn, a lawyer by profession, was President of the Orange Free State from 1899 to 1902.
He remained in the field throughout the war. He was opposed to the idea of surrendering
before the British might. The other three were basically farmers. Louis Botha had become a
member of the Transvaal Volksraad in 1898. He remained in active military service from
1 899 to 1 902. In 1 900 he became the Commandant - General of the republic. Gen. Christian
de Wet distinguished himself as a legendary guerilla fighter. He proved one of the most
adroit of the Boer leaders in the later stages of the war. uen.J.H. de la Rey operated in the
western Transvaal during the guerrilla phase of the war and fought to the bitter end.

THEANGLO-BOERWAR

157

recognized by the British as an extremely difficult phase of the war. It
was in the latter part of this period that the supposedly victorious
Englishmen, out of sheer exasperation, adopted outright cruel methods to
overcome the Afrikaners' unending defiance. The intensified reprisals included
decimation of the Boer farms and large-scale confiscation of the livestock
that caused famine-like conditions in the country. To create terror among
the guerrilla commandos, thousands of women and children, displaced as
a result of scorched-earth policy, were huddled into the so-called refugee
camps. There were at least about 18,000 deaths caused by shortage of
food and outbreak of epidemics in these Konzentrationslager.* When at
last the resistance wore down, the Boer leaders after a long internal debate
accepted the inevitable on May 31 , 1 902. Whatever it was, Milner called it
'terms of surrender'; Kitchner described it as 'terms of peace'; Botha referred
to it as a 'treaty'. Actually it was given no title. In good grace, the British
later began to call it the Treaty of Veriniging, though it was signed in Kitchner's
house at Pretoria. General Smuts, transformed by the war from a lawyer
into a front-rank political leader, had an important role in concluding this
peace. The Boers became citizens of the empire they had fought against.
They were guaranteed their liberties and rights of property and language.
They were promised a system of representative government with a large
measure of autonomy. The British Government, instead of demanding
recompense for the destruction caused during the war, undertook to provide
three million pounds as aid apart from a similar amount in the shape of
loans, to facilitate rehabilitation of the burghers.

The establishment of equal political rights for the white races had
been one of Britain's principal aims of the war and it was achieved. In the
earlier draft peace proposals, the British had sought to protect the political
rights of the coloured people in terms of Article XIV of the London Convention.
But in the treaty ultimately signed they virtually yielded to the Boer view-point
on this issue and it made no mention of coloured people. It expressly excluded
all non-white Africans from the exercise of franchise by providing for this
question not to be considered until after the introduction of self-government.
Howsoever generous the British may have been in dealing with the Boers at
this stage, there could not be on their part a greater betrayal of the African
blacks, the coloureds, the Indians and other Asians.

***

Gandhi's experience in a theatre of war, though over a short period,
did leave its mark on his personality. He had acquired the iron will and

* The stir created in London by the ugly reports about these concentration camps led to the
iron-willed Miss Emily Hobhouse taking a trip to South Africa to conduct an inquiry on
behalf of the South African Women and Children's Distress Fund. She was there for about
four months. Her report, apart from other things, considerably strengthened the hands of
the Liberal Opposition who had decried this war from the very beginning.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

ruggedness of a soldier. Adorned with a thick-set moustache curling around
his lips and clothed in khaki with a slouch hat on his head, he looked as if he
had spent long years in the Red Cross. A vivid portrayal of Gandhi's self-
possessed demeanour was given by an officer who had taken part in the
Vaalkrantz campaign. After a night's work, which 'had shattered men with
much bigger frames (he) came across Gandhi in the early morning sitting by
the roadside — eating a regulation Army biscuit. Every man in Buller's force
was dull and depressed ... But Gandhi was stoical in his bearing, cheerful
and confident in his conversation, and had a kindly eye.' Gandhi had gone to
the front on behalf of the British. He could not, however, overlook the
determination and courage with which the Boers had engaged themselves
against a power having vast resources at its command. What had motivated
them to accept the British challenge was their love of freedom. At the same
time he felt equally impressed by the tenacity with which Englishmen fought
the war after having suffered some staggering blows from the doughty Boers
in the first phase. Having carefully observed the valour displayed by the armed
forces on both sides, he had come to look at soldiers' mental attitude in a
different light. He could see that it was the virtues of fortitude, will power,
stamina, perseverance, punctuality and precision that made good fighting
men. The sight of military discipline and gallantry from close quarters left him
charged with thoughts of self-control and tenacity. He was astounded to see
how human beings transformed themselves in a crisis. The spirit of brotherhood
was more common in the battlefield than elsewhere. Some of the persons in
the European Ambulance Corps had participated in the anti-Indian agitation
of 1 897. Neither they nor the European soldiers ever treated members of the
Indian corps with discourtesy.

Gandhi was also not inattentive to the brutal side of war as a means
of settling international disputes. Whatever he may have thought of war
as such, he had an admiration for the sense of duty which inspired those
who participated in it and induced them to sacrifice their lives. Later, while
addressing a public gathering at Calcutta on January 27, 1 902, he affirmed:
'As a Hindu, I do not believe in war, but if anything can even partially
reconcile me to it, it was the rich experience we gained at the front. It was
certainly not the thirst for blood that took thousands of men to the battlefield.
They went there because it was their duty. And now many proud, rude,
savage spirits has it not broken into gentle creatures of God?' The service
rendered by the Indian Ambulance Corps received a good deal of
applause. General Sir William Olpherts was all praise for the courage
with which the stretcher-bearers had retrieved the wounded under heavy
fire without any means of defence. Thanks to the initiative taken by a
distant relation of Dr. Booth, the latter's account of the way the Indian
corps had performed the task assigned to it was read out to Queen
Victoria who felt so happy that she took possession of the letter in
question. It was this fact that did not allow a technical hitch to keep off
the inclusion of the Indian corps leaders' names in the roll of honour. So they

THE ANGLO-BOER WAR

159

were granted Queen's medals. The foremost among them was M.K.
Gandhi, politely designated as Assistant Superintendent though, in fact,
they all had the same status.

The sincerity with which the Natal Indians had come forward for war
effort, forgetting for the moment their own grievances, did not fail to win
for them many new friends among the whites in that Colony. They were
the ones who looked at the work done by the Indian Ambulance corps as
a valuable addition to the sizeable help that had been received in various
forms from the Government of India. They did not hesitate to promote the
idea that every Indian was as good a citizen of the British Empire as any
one of them. Yet there was no dearth of cynics who liked to belittle whatever
the Indians had done. No wonder, the goodwill that had been generated
began to wear away as the tide of war turned in favour of the British. Some
of the colonists could not conceal their gall at any Indian trying to be the
European's equal.

What irked the Indians most was the renewed rigour in the enforcement
of the Immigration Act of 1897 and the restrictive rules framed thereunder. A
person in India wanting a certificate of domicile before undertaking his journey
to Natal would have to wait indefinitely to get his clearance. Gandhi
represented about it to the Natal Government, but it refused to make any
relaxation. Even about the Dealers' Licensing Act, the Indian traders were in
suspense as to what would happen when the revalidation of licenses became
due. There was a section of white opinion again crying out for unfailing vigilance
about the Indian question. They were anxious that the temporary military
occupation should not be permitted to encroach upon the position Natal had
hitherto maintained successfully in restricting Indian immigration and
enterprise. Some people did not even trust Roberts who, it was alleged,
might be swayed by his Indian connection. There was no end to their
displeasure when he uttered a few words of sympathy to a deputation of
Indians that had waited on him and held out to them the hope of a fair deal on
the return of normal conditions.

Having smelt the gradually changing atmosphere, Gandhi in one of
his reports to Dadabhai Naoroji, while acknowledging some improvement in
the general attitude toward Indians in Natal, cautiously expressed an
apprehension that the same old situation arising before long could not be
ruled out. He had expressed greater concern about happenings in the Cape.
The legislature there was divided into two evenly balanced parties holding
diametrically opposite views on most issues. But they were almost
unanimous on the Indian question and were disposed to go farther even
than Natal in shutting the door against new-comers from India. What made
him all the more apprehensive was that in Joseph Chamberlain they had a
Secretary of State who liked to go to any length in respecting the wishes of
the self-governing colonies. Gandhi was afraid that if these colonies were
left free with regard to the immigration policy, the Indians already there
would soon be treated as social lepers.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The Governor-General of India, Lord Curzon, had about this time written
to the Secretary of State for India that after the termination of hostilities in
South Africa 'the hard case and just claims' of the Indian settlers in Natal and
the T ransvaal, who had been 'badly treated in the former and abominably in
the latter country', should be given proper consideration and their legitimate
grievances remedied. The India Office knew only too well that the colonists in
Natal as well as the Transvaal were determined not to give the Indians the
rights that the Government of India now thought they ought to have. It brought
in a routine fashion Lord Curzon's representation to the notice of the Colonial
Office where also it received an equally casual treatment.

Gandhi had expected that, after annexation of the Transvaal, the
grievances of the Indian settlers at least in that Colony, which the British
Government in the past had found itself unable to redress, would be removed.
What actually happened was quite different. For the handful of Indian residents
in Pretoria and Johannesburg, who at the time of outbreak of war could not
leave the Transvaal, the change brought about by the Colony coming under
British control was all for the worse. Milner had lost no time in repealing the
laws which were directly or indirectly prejudicial to the interests of the
uitlanders. But as far as the anti-Indian laws were concerned, they were
immaculately compiled and published in the form of a book to serve as a
handy manual for guidance of the officials. It appeared that the Indians would
still have to remove themselves to the 'locations'.

Most of the people who had left the T ransvaal at the outbreak of war
were eager to return. Under the new regulations promulgated, anyone who
wished to come in was required to obtain a permit from the authorities. This
requirement was applicable to Indians as well as Europeans. Far from being
worked in a fair and impartial manner, the permit system after some time
came to be used as a device to prevent the return of Indian refugees to the
Transvaal. A separate Immigration Office, a foreshadow of the notorious Asiatic
Department that came in later, was opened to exclusively deal with the issue
of the requisite passes to the Indians and other Asians. Even those who had
already been duly authorized were required to surrender the old permits and
exchange them for fresh passes.

Gandhi tried to seek redress of the new grievances by direct
representations and through intervention by some of the sympathizers in
England as well as the Government of India. They were to bring pressure
on Joseph Chamberlain who had earlier recognized the difficulties the
Indians were faced with but had pieaded his helplessness due to the
uncompromising attitude of the Boer regime. Now that he had all the
power, could they not hope for a better deal?

FROM THE MUNDANE
TO THE SUBLIME

An agreeable home, bright with calm deiight, would be the cherished
dream of any housewife as unaffected as Kasturba was. Her heart must
have throbbed with joy when, after the dramatic happenings of January 1 3,
1 897, the family moved into the Beach Grove Villa, a five-bedroom house.
The magic touch of the home-maker should have imparted to the place a
new fragrance but she could not quite go her own way: she had got to take
care of Gandhi's idiosyncrasies.

His style of living was simple and free from ostentation. An early
riser, he would take some light exercise on the horizontal bars in the
backyard. After bath, prayers and breakfast, he would leave for work at
a quarter to nine. On his return home in the evening, after a wash and
some refreshment he would read the daily newspapers and then go for
a walk along with Kasturba. The children went out separately with an
escort. Later, some friends would usually drop in and occasionally stay
on for dinner to share the regular vegetarian fare. Gandhi during this
phase of his life loved good food and ate heartily. A Gujarati Hindu
cooked for the family. The service at the table was in the western style,
but Kasturba usually dined separately.

The education of his nephew Gokuldas and the two sons, Harilal
and Manilal, was a problem to which Gandhi was unable to find a satisfactory
solution. If he so wished, he could have managed to send them to a school
meant for European children but he refused to seek any advantage that was
not generally available to other Indians in the Colony. Another alternative
was to put the boys into any of the Christian mission schools that were
open to Indian children, but he did not like the education imparted in these
institutions. He, therefore, decided to give the boys coaching at home.
In this matter, Kasturba could not have offered any help. Gandhi himself
did not find it possible to spare much time. He wanted to go in for a suitable
Gujarati teacher, but was unable to find one. He advertised for an English
teacher who could impart some regular instruction under his direction as a
supplement to what little he himself could do. Ultimately he did engage
an English governess and paid her £7 a month. The arrangement went
on for some time, but it was not to Gandhi's satisfaction. Anyhow, he
was disinclined to send the boys back to India. He believed that young
children should not be deprived of what they naturally imbibed, living
as members of a well-regulated family. Guided by this consideration,

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Gandhi overlooked the equally important fact that no private arrangement,
unless exceptionally good, could replace systematic instruction in an
institution. As the boys grew up, they began to resent that they were being
deprived of proper schooling.

Gandhi put in more than normal effort to look after his children. The kind
of care he bestowed on them, however, did not always work to their benefit. He
had, in fact, ceased to be the normal type of householder. The increasingly
close identification by him with a public cause had deeply influenced his approach
to personal life and its demands. To the extent his ardour for all those around
him whom he had made his own swelled, his entire thinking about the way he
should relate with his own family went through a subtle change.

Kasturba would not have taken long to perceive how irksome, though
exciting, it was to be the wife of a man like Gandhi. He had provided her with
a comfortable house. But she was denied the privacy and warmth of a happy
home. She could not have felt at ease with a number of Gandhi's colleagues
living with him. Besides his confidential clerk, Vincent Lawrence, an old
inmate, there was Joseph Royeppen, who was in charge of work concerning
the Natal Indian Congress. Two of his associates, Mansukhlal Naazar and
R.K. Khan, were also there. The latter had come and settled as a practising
lawyer at the Natal Bar in 1898. Subsequently, when the Boer War broke
out, Gandhi admitted into his house two Englishmen from Johannesburg,
thus adding to Kasturba's burden. One of them, Herbert Kitchin, had taken
to drinking to an extent that often he ceased to be his normal self, which
made things worse.

No one should think that Gandhi was immune to family ties, but he
did not have his soul circumscribed on that account. He just could not
close the door on other people having any kind of claim on him. He held
that 'believers who have to see the same God in others that they see in
themselves, must be able to live amongst all with sufficient detachment.
And the ability to live thus can be cultivated not by fighting shy of unsought
opportunities for such contacts, but by hailing them in a spirit of service
and withal keeping oneself unaffected by them.' This leaning towards an
extended household gradually turned into an eagerness for community living,
which later became an essential part of his life. It was not, however, easy
for Kasturba to fit into this pattern and keep pace with her husband's
insistence on treating all the inmates as members of the family. True to the
Indian tradition, she tried her best to comply with his wishes. The slightest
demur on her part would lead to unpleasantness.

The house having no flushing-cisterns, the retiring suites were provided
with chamber-pots. Cleaning them was an important part of the household
work. Gandhi did not like the idea of having a servant or a sweeper for this
purpose. So he and his wife attended to it personally. The inmates who had
come to feel completely at home, of course, cleaned their own pots. The
difficulty arose when for a newly arrived Christian clerk, born of the
so-called untouchable (Panchama) parents, Gandhi insisted that it was for

FROM THE MUNDANE TO THE SUBLIME

163

his wife to perform this duty pertaining to his bedroom. She had not minded
doing it for an occasional guest but she rebelled when it came to cleaning
the pot used by a Panchama. Nor did she approve of Gandhi himself
doing it. After a bitter argument, Kasturba in sheer disgust picked up the
pot and went down the ladder, her eyes red with anger and tears streaming
down her cheeks. The loving tyrant in Gandhi was not satisfied with her
doing all this resentfully. Raising his voice, he said angrily: 'I will not
stand this nonsense in my house.' These words hurt her like a dart. Unable
to hold in, she rejoined: 'Keep your house to yourself and let me go.'
Beyond himself with anger, Gandhi caught Kasturba by the arm, pushed
her to the gate and would have thrown her out. She gathered herself and
shouted: 'What has gone wrong with you? Have you lost all sense of
shame? Where am I to go? I have no parents or relatives here to protect
me. Being your wife, you think I must put up with your cuffs and kicks.
For God's sake, be sensible and shut the gate. Let's not be found making
scenes like this.' By this time Gandhi had sobered down. He shut the
gate. Though he did not let it be seen, he felt ashamed of himself.
Recollecting this incident many years later, he wrote: 'If my wife could not
leave me, I also could not leave her. We have had numerous bickerings,
but the end has always been peace between us. The wife, with her
matchless powers of endurance, has always been the victor.'

The harshness that Gandhi had shown toward Kasturba on this
occasion, apart from what it apparently amounted to, also reflected his concern
for the persons he had harboured in his household. All this arose from his
yearning for a life of service that lay deep down in his heart overflowing with
compassion. One day a leper came to him. It was not enough to provide him
with food. He gave him refuge in his house for some time and tended his
sores until he was reluctantly transferred to the hospital. Looking after the
sick, already dear to Gandhi, had become so compelling a passion that he
took it upon himself to work as a part-time compounder by way of assistance
to Dr. Booth who was running a charitable hospital, financed by Parsi Rustomji.
For this labour of love he had to find two hours' time every morning from his
heavy schedule of work. Besides dispensing the prescriptions, he helped the
doctor by obtaining from the patients the details regarding their ailments.
This work brought him in contact with the poor among Indians, most of them
indentured labourers.

***

In 1900 when Kasturba was to deliver their youngest son Devdas,
about three years junior to Ramdas, Gandhi prompted by his hospital
experience decided to do without professional medical aid. He obtained a
reliable handbook, learned from it the fundamentals of midwifery and put his
knowledge to test during the confinement. His acquaintance with nursing
proved useful in the rearing of children too. A nurse was engaged — not
for more than two months each time — chiefly to help Kasturba, and not

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

to take care of the babies, for which he himself rendered a good deal of
assistance.

After the birth of Devdas, Gandhi did not want to have any more
children. While in England, he had known something about
contraceptives. He was also exposed to the opposition to the birth control
movement from orthodox Christians who regarded it as a serious threat
to moral standards. They held that the people wanting fewer children
should exercise self-control. This line of thinking had left its mark on
Gandhi's mind. Whatever doubts he had were removed by the influence
of his spiritual mentor Raychandbhai. He had put into Gandhi's thoughts
a seed which was ultimately to sprout as a vow of celibacy (brahmacharya).
But, in his early thirties at this time, he strove for self-control mainly to
avoid the addition of another child to his family. Gandhi found it extremely
difficult to shut out sex altogether. He would sleep on a separate cot. He
would retire for the night after he was thoroughly exhausted. Such
expedients did not seem to work and on some rare occasions the desire
proved stronger than his power of restraint. The struggle, none the less,
had a chastening effect.

He had carefully thought over the nature of conjugal love. He did not
feel satisfied with his faithfulness to Kasturba'as long as she remained the
object of his lust. Any progress in the direction he had set for himself depended
upon his own self-mastery because she was never the temptress. The only
obstacle was lack of sufficient will-power on his part which he was trying to
cultivate. The problem that Gandhi faced at this stage should not, however,
be viewed in isolation. For many years, while trying to play the role of a
teacher to his charming but stubborn wife, he had been eager to find a cure to
their intellectual incompatibility, the acuteness of which was bound to increase
as years rolled by. His failure in that regard, added to the lack of mutual
understanding between them generally, left him with the difficult task of
somehow making the best of the situation he was placed in. He may or may
not have been aware of the kind of married life to which persons like Dadabhai-
Naoroji and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, both yoked like himself into early
matrimony, had to reconcile themselves. Gandhi, for his part, had a special
knack for converting a handicap or an obstacle into an asset. What he did
was to transform his home into a laboratory for moral and spiritual experiments.
All of this could not have been deliberately planned. The emerging change in
him at this time was also not entirely new. There is a broad hint given by
Gandhi in his autobiography that when he had left for South Africa he had
already become 'fairly free from the carnal appetite.’

***

Simplicity and purity are the two wings on which some exceptional
individuals have soared above the commonplace. It became clear early enough
that Gandhi was going to strive for both these values. He had secured for

FROM THE MUNDANE TO THE SUBLIME

165

himself a life of comfort and plenty, but it failed to have a complete hold on
him. He was already seized by an urge to simplify his living and cut down
personal expenses. For example, to economize on the washerman's bill,
which was heavy, he went in for a washing outfit. He even studied a book on
the subject and, having understood the right method, he explained it to
Kasturba. It was an exacting piece of work but its novelty made it delightful.
He had some initial difficulty with the collars which he would starch more
than necessary. The ironing was also faulty. He had to make an effort to put
these right. Before long Gandhi could achieve excellence in washing and
ironing to match that of a laundry. Above all, there was the joy of seif-help.

Once it so happened that when he went to a haircutting saloon, an
English barber disdainfully refused to attend on him. He stomached the
insuit, but immediately purchased a pair of scissors. When he tried to trim
his hair in front of the mirror, he ended up with a mess of uneven dipping
at the back of his head. The next day his friends in the court could not
contain their laughter. Someone asked: 'What's wrong with your hair, Gandhi?
Have the rats been at it?' 'No. The white barber would not condescend to
touch my black hair,' replied Gandhi. 'So I preferred to cut it myself, no
matter how badly.' Many years later, when he recollected this incident, his
comment was: The barber was not at fault in having refused to cut my hair.
There was every chance of his losing his custom, if he should serve the
black. Back home we do not allow the barbers to serve our untouchable
brethren. I got the reward for this in South Africa, not once, but many times,
and the conviction that it was the punishment for our own sins saved me
from getting angry.' So his ideas regarding India's unjust social system
were already taking shape.

***

Gandhi had adopted a way of iife, singularly his own. He was honest
to himself; so was he to others, the clearest evidence of which was to be
found in his approach to the practice of law. As he went along, his
experience left him more upright and high-minded, not less. He just did
not believe that the sole duty of a lawyer was to ensure success for his
client, irrespective of whether his case was right or wrong. Before
entertaining a brief, he liked to satisfy himself that his client's case had a
sound moral basis. He invariably warned a new client coming to him that
if in the course of proceedings it came to light that the case was false he
would have the right to give it up. Some of his clients would entrust their
straight cases to him and take the rest elsewhere.

Gandhi's unrelenting honesty may have cost him some loss of income.
Nevertheless he made a decent living for himself. Besides comfortably meeting
the expenses of running a large household that included his
clerks whom he provided with free board and lodging, he had enough to
spend on whatever he considered important. He was also able to make a

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

substantial remittance to his brother as his contribution to the joint
family's till. He could do all this although some of his legal work was
undertaken as part of his public activity for which he did not expect any
payment. Often, he incurred some expenses from his own pocket. There
were cases in which even some of his well-to-do clients failed to pay his
dues. It was his principle never to launch court proceedings for recovery
of unrealised fees. It would have resulted in loss of several thousand
pounds, but he never regretted it.

He was slowly reaching a stage when his legal profession had no
more than a secondary place in his overall scheme of life. Of course, he
valued it for the support it provided to his public work. It brought him in
touch with his compatriots from various walks of life. The daily contact with
all kinds of people gave him a deep insight into the subtler aspects of
human nature and a better understanding of the complex, often confused,
mix of feelings and motives among the persons coming to him. The way he
dealt with them and reacted to their problems was to account for their
implicit faith in his leadership which later enabled him to make on them
demands that involved much hardship and suffering.

***

Gandhi was already a recognized spokesman of the Indian community
in Natal and the Transvaal. A despised people so long had at last acquired
an articulate voice. At one time friendless, now they could look up to the
support of men like Gokhale and Pherozeshah Mehta in India and Dadabhai
Naoroji, Hunter and Wedderburn in England. The Natal Congress, nurtured
with tender care, had grown into a cohesive and hardened political machine,
admittedly superior to any that the white settlers with their vast resources
had been able to contrive. If at any time it was struck by debilitating internal
bickerings and petty rivalries among the members, it had the resilience to
recover from such infirmity.

Gandhi was ever alert to forestall and thwart any attempts to sow
seeds of discord between different sections of the Indian community. He
did not want the Indians' protest against the encroachment of their rights to
degenerate into vengeful belligerence. He missed no opportunity to inculcate
among his countrymen a spirit of tolerance and ungrudging admiration for
the good features of the western way of life. In the bargain, he earned the
goodwill of several liberal-minded Europeans whose help was of considerable
advantage on certain occasions.

The key role of Honorary Secretary of the Congress had remained with
Gandhi until heleftfor India towards the middle of 1 896. ShethAdamjiMiyakhan
who took over from him held this office till Gandhi's return in June 1 897. Adamji
had borne the responsibility with great competence. Soon after, when he was
to leave for India, a special meeting was convened to consider the question of
giving him a farewell. With a sharp difference of opinion among the members,

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167

the proposal to present an address to Miyakhan was approved only by a narrow
majority. Gandhi who had resumed charge as Honorary Secretary felt very
unhappy thatthere should have been such a strong opposition aboutthis simple
matter. In his view of democracy there was something wrong with the simple
rule of majority which in the long run was bound to produce divisive forces. He,
therefore, reluctantly supported the idea of not presenting an address. To make
up for it, he arranged a party in honour of Adamji at his own house. It was a
small, but ticklish problem. He did notallow itto cause disunity in the Congress.

The awakening caused by the trouble in January 1 897, and the spate
of anti-Indian legislation that followed, had been turned to good account by
a renewed drive to enlist new members and improve the financial position of
the Congress. To create a regular source of funds, Gandhi made a proposal
for acquisition of a piece of property that could yield some regular income.
His co-workers having approved the idea, he went ahead with its
implementation. The property purchased was leased out and the rent
contracted for was enough to meet the current expenses of the Congress.
It worked all right up to a point, but in course of time it became a source of
dissension leading to endless infighting. This experience turned Gandhi
into a firm believer in voluntary subscriptions and donations as the best
means of supporting public work. The principle he enunciated was: 'I have
no doubt that the ideal is for public institutions to live, like nature, from day
to day. The institution that fails to win public support has no right to exist as
such. The subscriptions that an institution annually receives are a test of
its popularity and the honesty of its management; and I am of opinion that
every institution should submit to that test.'

***

In the midst of Gandhi's other preoccupations, in early 1 897 there
was a call for help to the victims of hunger in India. He promptly initiated
a drive to raise some funds for famine relief and brought to the notice of
his countrymen in South Africa the seriousness of the situation millions of
people in India were faced with. Anxious to involve as many of them as
possible in this task, he convened meetings to urge members of the
community not only to make generous contributions but also to take up
the collection of donations. A sum of £1 ,159 was raised within a fortnight.
Gandhi could not, however, reconcile himself to the fact that only one
European should have subscribed to the Mayor's Relief Fund. At his
instance, the Bishop of Natal made an appeal to the colonists to come
forward to discharge an obligation they owed to India — a country that
had sent so many of her sons to the Colony as indentured labourers to
help in its economic growth. It was entirely due to this initiative that the
Mayor was able to report a total collection of £1,535 to which both
Europeans and Indians had contributed. Even the indentured labourers
had paid whatever they could out of their meagre earnings.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED I N SOUTH AFRICA

***

A similar effort was again instituted when India suffered another famine
in 1 899. This time the collection was much larger, particularly from the white
colonists with their changed disposition towards the Indian community after
the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War. They had contributed £3,300 out of the
total sum of £5,000.

The reports regarding plague in India and Mauritius posed a different
kind of challenge. Gandhi's response to this problem again was true to
his style. Even before the authorities had actively taken up the task of
preventing the outbreak of an epidemic, he made an effort to promote
among members of the Indian community a consciousness of hygiene
and public health. He knew that the Europeans were resentful of Indians'
inattention to sanitation standards. At his insistence, many Indian families
had effected considerable improvement in that direction, but when plague
was reported to be imminent in Durban, Gandhi organized house-to-house
inspection in consultation with the municipal authorities who appreciated
the campaign launched by him. They could see that ventilating the
grievances of Indian immigrants was not his only concern; he was equally
keen about putting his community's own house in order.

Service of the people around him was Gandhi's main springboard in
his striving for self-realization and his search for the ultimate reality. All
positive ideas gathered by him from different sources had gone through a
process of transmutation and fusion before he put them to practice in
pursuit of his goals. His primary source of inspiration, however, was the
Bhagavad Gita with which he had acquainted himseif first in his early
twenties. By now his faith in the teachings of this holy book had been
firmly established. Having imbibed the spirit of karma yoga, he could not
rest content with a life revolving around material gains. The resultant moral
enterprise had slowly become an important element of Gandhi's character.
But his foremost concern was South Africa's Indian community and through
its service he sought to attain a higher level of selflessness in action and
thereby partake of the glory of the omnipotent God.

Within this broad frame of reference, the key to Gandhi's inner life
lay in his consecration to truth. Whatever his level of self-cultivation, he
regulated his conduct and activities along lines conforming to his beliefs
at that particular moment. At this time, Gandhi believed that the British
Empire was essentially benign in its character. Because of this conviction,
he had no inhibition about being loyal to the British imperial authority
though it was party to all the injustice the Indians in South Africa suffered.
This was brought into prominence by the solemnity with which the Indian
community in Natal under his guidance mourned Queen Victoria's death early

FROM THE MUNDANE TO THE SUBLIME

169

in 1 901 . Gandhi himself led the procession of Indian mourners in the streets
of Durban.

Gandhi's truth was not static. His search for it involved a ceaseless
effort to rise higher and higher, and at every stage he practised what he
believed. This was the cornerstone of his personal religion. To quote him:
That one should appear to be as one really is and should act accordingly, is
not the last but the first step towards practical religion. The building up
of a religious life is impossible without such a foundation.'

Suddenly in May 1 901 , he learned that his spiritual mentor Raichandra
had died after a prolonged illness. He dissolved his distress with a strange,
unearthly calm. He wrote to a friend: 'I got the letter while I was at my desk.
Reading it, I felt grieved for a minute and then plunged immediately into my
office work. Such is life here. But whenever there is a little leisure, the mind
reverts to it ... I was greatly attracted to him and I loved him deeply too. Ail
that is over now.' The fortitude with which Gandhi received the news about
the passing away of his guide and friend, who had come to his rescue when
he was perplexed by all kinds of doubts, had a touch of the sublime about
it. He was only a teenager when he lost his father. It was a traumatic
happening particularly because of the circumstances in which it had taken
place. When he confronted the fact of his mother's demise on his return
from England, he had the ability to philosophize a little and gradually come
to terms with the tragic occurrence. Now when his most esteemed counsellor
was taken away, he could boldly look at death as life's inevitable finale —
an insight which appears to have acted as the fountainhead of his capacity
for self-help and as a reminder to him at the subconscious level to be
thankful to God for allowing him to continue to serve his fellow-beings. This
simple phenomenology of life and death was the foundation on which Gandhi
built up the spiritual props for his later fearlessness that was to be a
prominent feature of his inner landscape.

HOMEWARD

At no stage had Gandhi aimed at permanently settling down in
South Africa. The period of eight years he spent on the subcontinent had
given him enough time and the right environment to put together the
divergent constituents of a complex psyche, and approach the prime of
his life with a clear sense of direction. It had also lent to his personality
its distinctive character. One important element that had been added to it
was acceptance of public work as his real vocation. During his visit to
India in 1 896 he had met some important national leaders. These contacts
had opened up to him a wider political horizon and had given him the
strength to speak and function, on returning to Natal, with greater certitude.
However, he had not, yet, drawn the satisfaction that a concrete gain to
the Indian community from his efforts would have brought him. Some
Gujarati traders were of the firm opinion that if they had kept quiet all
those years their condition wouid not have been so bad as it was. Gandhi
had never accepted this view. His simple answer was: if the Indians in
Natal and the T ransvaal had not raised their voice, they would have met
the same fate as their brethren in the Orange Free State.

Granting that Gandhi's reasoning was right, it is doubtful if, in the
face of a section of his countrymen thinking differently, he would not have
often felt disheartened, particularly in view of the unmistakable signs of
renewed anti-Indian sentiment one could sense even in Natal soon after
the British had gained decisive victories in their fight against the Boer
republics. Viewed in this light, the following remark in Gandhi's
autobiography about his return to India in 1901 assumes special
significance: 'On my relief from war-duty I felt that my work was no longer
in South Africa but in India. Not that there was nothing to be done in
South Africa, but I was afraid that my main business might become merely
money-making.' The question of lucrative law practice to occupy more of
his time and energy could have arisen only if the public work were to
become inconsequential. Whatever was Gandhi's own view of the over-all
situation, the fact that some Indians were getting weary could not but
produce the kind of apprehensions that had passed through his mind.

The matter may also be looked at from another standpoint. Since
1897, Gandhi had attracted a good deal of attention both in Britain and India.
In South Africa itself, apart from receiving ample Press coverage, he had got
acquainted with some whites holding high office or otherwise exercising

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171

considerable influence. Within the Indian community he was undoubtedly
among its prominent members. More importantly, he had gained an
unquestioned moral authority that even those who differed from him could not
disregard. Having reached thus far, Gandhi would have naturally been
encouraged to think in terms of a more ambitious course of life.

Thus, while on the one hand Gandhi might have suffered a little
frustration leading him to the conclusion that he could not do very much more
in South Africa, on the other, he had good reasons to feel happy about having
made a mark in a country where he and his compatriots were hamstrung by
innumerable impediments. The latter experience had led him to believe that
the future should have for him a role to play in India's public life. While these
two contrary emotions were grating on each other, a peculiar kind of
restlessness had come to hold him in a tight grip.

Incidentally, the state of mind that Gandhi was in happened to be
compatible with the demands of his personal life. His well-wishers and relations
at home had been pressing him to return to India. The future of his children
too must have been bothering him. Their education had already suffered a
great deal, a fact to which Kasturba could not have been indifferent.

The Anglo-Boer War, in Gandhi's reckoning, had brought the sub¬
continent to the threshold of a new era. For the Indian community also the end
of hostilities was going to be the beginning of a fresh chapter. If he was to bid
good-bye to South Africa, the right thing for him was to do so before he got
involved in the post-war issues or felt tempted toward scaling down his political
activity. Presently, with Mansukhlal Naazar in Durban, taking care of the
Natal Congress, he thought, should not be very difficult. R.K. Khan could
succeed to his law practice. Some young Indians domiciled in Natal had also
returned from England after having qualified as barristers.

After weighing everything in his mind, Gandhi broached the subject
with his associates, placed before them his personal problems and asked
them if he could now leave for India. With much reluctance they agreed to his
proposal on the condition that if within a year the community should need
him he must be ready to come back. It was a difficult undertaking to give, but
so strong were the ties binding him to his countrymen in Natal and the Transvaal
that he could not have disappointed them. Without dragging his feet, he
accepted the condition put in by his friends and got their permission to go
ahead with his plan.

★**

There were numerous farewell functions on the eve of his departure.
The gifts showered on him and Kasturba by his admirers as tokens of their
gratitude and affection gave him an anxious time. He had received some
earlier when he left for India in 1 896, but this time the number of presents
was much larger and they were far more costly. They included a gold
chain, a gold watch, a gold necklace, some gold coins, a diamond ring

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

and a diamond pin. Even as he recognized the spirit in which these gifts had
been offered, he was assailed with certain doubts which he could not have
easily brushed off. What right did he have to accept such valuables? If he
accepted them, what about his claim that he served the community without
remuneration! How would he reconcile it with his exhortations to others to
conquer the love for jewellery? What effect would it have on his children,
whom he yearned to train for a life of service? St was as difficult to forgo the
gilt-edged presents as to keep them . He was just not able to find a satisfactory
answer to the predicament he was faced with. After days and nights of inner
turmoil and debate with himself, he was finally at peace with his conscience
when he decided that, instead of keeping the valuables, he would assign
them in favour of the community. Before he could give practical shape to his
idea, it was necessary to bring his family round to this viewpoint.

He first consulted his sons, Harilal and Maniial, only thirteen and
eight respectively. They readily agreed to what he had planned to do and
acted as his allies in dealing with their mother. When the matter was
discussed with Kasturba she protested fiercely: 'You may not need them.
Your children may not need them. Cajoled, they will dance to your tune.

I can understand your objection to my wearing them. But what about my
daughters-in-law? They will certainly need them. And who knows what
will happen tomorrow? I would be the last person to part with gifts so
lovingly given.' Saying so, Kasturba let go her tears she had been trying
to hold back. The boys remained firm. So was Gandhi. He put in very
softly: 'When the boys are grown up, they can take care of themselves.
Surely we shall not have, for our sons, brides who are fond of ornaments.
If, after ail, we need to provide them with ornaments, I am there. You will
ask me then.'

Pat came her reply: 'Ask you? I know you by this time. You deprived me
of my ornaments; you would not leave me in peace with them. Fancy you
offering to get ornaments for the daughters-in-law! You who are trying to make
sadhus of my boys at this young age! No, the ornaments will not be returned.
And pray what right have you to my necklace?' Gandhi shot back: 'But is the
necklace given you for your service or mine ?' Kasturba was equally sharp in
her reaction: 'But service rendered by you is as good as done by me. I have
toiled for you day and night. Is that no service? You forced all and sundry on me
and I slaved for them.'

Gandhi had no answer. But he was determined to have his way.
Somehow, he got out of Kasturba her consent, howsoever grudgingly
granted. The gifts received in 1 896 and 1 901 were all put into a trust and
deposited with a bank as an emergency reserve. In doing so, he had also
to overcome Parsi Rustomji's opposition to such disposal of the Indian
community's tokens of esteem in which it had held Gandhi for the 'priceless
services' rendered by him.

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173

On October 20, 1901, Gandhi and his family set sail from Port Natal.
On the way, they had a long stopover in Mauritius and ultimately reached
home in the second week of December. During the long voyage, Gandhi had
plenty of time to plan for starting life afresh in his own country. Public work in
some form was to be his principal aim. But for a living it would be necessary
to practise law. To prepare himself for it, he had spent much of his time on the
high seas studying the Indian Evidence Act and commentaries thereon.

After meeting his brothers at Rajkot and leaving his family there, Gandhi
hurriedly left for Bombay on his way to Calcutta where the Indian National
Congress was to have its annual session at the end of December. He wanted
to present there the case of the Indian community in South Africa. Gandhi
was anxious to get in touch with Sir Pherozeshah Mehta at Bombay, but he
could not find him free. He, therefore, decided to take the same train to
Calcutta by which the latter along with Dinshaw Wacha was to travel in a
saloon. Gandhi went to the special coach at one of the stops to be able to
talk to them till the next halt of the train. Sir Pherozeshah had already been
briefed on the subject. His response was quite abrupt and pessimistic: 'Gandhi,
it seems nothing can be done for you. Of course, we will pass the resolution
you want. But what rights do we have in this country itself? I believe that, so
long as we have no power in our own land, you cannot fare better in the
colonies.'

Gandhi was left holding his breath. Chimanlai Setalvad*, who was
also there, seemed to be in agreement with what Sir Pherozeshah had said.
All this while Dinshaw Wacha was looking at Gandhi gloomily. The latter
tried to reason out, but it was futile. He had to be content with the fact that
the subject would at least be included in the agenda. 'You will of course show
me the resolution/ said Wacha consolingly. Gandhi thanked him and left for
his compartment at the next stop.

At Calcutta, Gandhi was accommodated in the Ripon College
complex. There he had the opportunity to watch from close quarters the
reverence with which countless visitors swarmed to meet Lokamanya
Tilak who arrived the very next day and camped in the same block.
Gandhi himself had great respect for him but did not feel impressed by
his brand of politics.

Gandhi's principal aim was to obtain whatever support the national
body could lend to the cause of Indians in South Africa. All the same, he
tried to make himself useful by undertaking whatever work was entrusted
to him even by the lowest functionaries. He was also keen to study how
the Congress conducted its affairs. He could see that this august body
was still conditioned to meet for three days every year 'and then go to
sleep.' At the annual session itself there was lack of order everywhere.
The volunteers appeared to have had little training. The phantom of
untouchability hobbled all around and no one was disturbed by it. Gandhi felt

* A friend of Sir Pherozeshah Mehta and an outstanding lawyer, who took active part in the
Congress affairs. Later, he became an eminent jurist.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

dismayed at the poor standard of sanitation in the building where the
delegates were to stay. He could not help asking for a broom to clean the
latrine and do somethina about the filth with which the verandahs were
littered. No one was ready to share with him the honour of cleaning the
place.

When it came to the actual proceedings, Gandhi was in for greater
disenchantment. Gokhale took him to the meeting of the Subjects
Committee. For every resolution, some important leader or the other had
a lengthy speech to deliver. Much of the time was lost on that account
and towards the end summary disposal of the remaining items on the
agenda was inevitable. Gandhi, worried that his subject might not be
brought up, sidled up to Gokhale and whispered: 'Please do something for
me.' The latter reassured him: 'I have not forgotten about it. You see the
way they are rushing through the resolutions. But I will not allow yours to
be passed over.' The whole thing was, however, proceeding at breakneck
speed. After a little while Sir Pherozeshah Mehta exclaimed: 'So, that's
the end of it !'

‘No, no. There is still the resolution on South Africa. Mr. Gandhi has

been waiting for a long time,' said Gokhale, raising his voice.

'Have you seen the resolution ?' Asked Sir Pherozeshah.

'Of course.'

'Do you like it ?'

'It's all right."

‘Well then, let's have it, Gandhi.'

Gandhi haltingly read the resolution whereafter Gokhale supported it.

‘Unanimously agreed,' cried out everyone.

Gandhi was allowed five minutes to speak on the subject at the plenary
session. He had prepared himself to put this opportunity to good use. Strangely,
the easy manner of speech he had acquired in South Africa was no more at
his command. He had to make a good deal of effort to keep himself steady.
He put forward his case as well as he could. He had completed only about
three minutes when the President rang the warning bell. Gandhi thought it
was a signal for him to finish off. He had heard others carry on for any length
of time without Mr. Wacha’s bell disturbing them. Feeling quite hurt at the
interruption when he was speaking, he stopped abruptly and sat down.
Anyhow, the resolution was passed. Though everything had not gone off as
he would have liked, Gandhi at least had the satisfaction that his resolution
had received the stamp of approval by the Indian National Congress.

After the Congress session, Gandhi remained in Calcutta for about a
month. He was able to have a room in the India Club. Gokhale frequently
went there to play billiards. When he learnt that Gandhi was going to be in
Calcutta for some time, he invited him to stay with him. It was clear that
this invitation had not been extended as a matter of formality. However,

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175

since Gandhi, even after having accepted it, did not move to Gokhale's
residence on his own for a couple of days, the latter took him there
personally. This period spent under one roof enabled them to discover
each other. Gokhale admired Gandhi's Spartan ways, but was anxious
that he should overcome his reserve. He introduced him to all important
persons who came to his house. In his own way, he was preparing Gandhi
for Congress work.

Gokhale was in Gandhi's eyes an outstanding luminary of Indian public
life, and yet whenever the latter noticed anything odd about his senior he did
not hesitate to point it out. In those days, Gokhale had a horse-driven buggy
as his personal transport. Gandhi asked him one day: 'Can't you make use of
the tramcar for moving about in the city? Is it derogatory to a leader's dignity?'
Gokhale felt pained and said: 'So, you also have failed to understand me! I do
not use the council allowances for my own personal comforts. I envy your
liberty to move around by tram, but I am sorry I can't do likewise. When you
are the victim of as wide a publicity as I am, it will be difficult, if not impossible,
for you to go about like this. I live as simply as I can, but some expense is
almost unavoidable for a man like myself.' On this point, Gandhi felt satisfied,
but he did not get an adequate explanation from Gokhale for not having any
physical exercise, not even a daily walk. Had he taken a cue from his disciple,
he would have kept better health.

Taking the help of the President, Bengal Chamber of Commerce,
Gandhi tried to explore the possibilities of a deputation to wait on the
Viceroy about the disabilities of Indians in South Africa. But Lord Curzon,
though having a very sympathetic attitude, did not approve of the proposal
on the ground that it would involve public expression of his views that may
not be beneficial to the cause. So the idea was dropped. Gandhi, however,
addressed two public meetings in Albert Hall. He was already talking in
terms of conquering hate by love and sticking to truth at all costs.

Gandhi's reaction to what he saw while on a visit to the famous Kali
temple of Calcutta was wholly in tune with his general attitude toward life
and things. The entire atmosphere — the mendicants, the beggars, helpless
animals ready to be sacrificed, spate of blood flowing all around — simply
appalled him. Many years later, reminiscing about it, he wrote: 'It is my
constant prayer that there may be born on earth some great spirit, man or
woman, fired with divine pity who will deliver us from this heinous sin, save
the lives of the innocent creatures and purify the temple. How is it that
Bengal with all its knowledge, intelligence, sacrifice and emotion tolerates
this slaughter.' No wonder, the sight of naked cruelty in the name of religion
had strongly moved the future votary of non-violence.

Gandhi stole some time for a short visit to Rangoon to meet his
friend Dr. Pranjeevan Mehta. He felt very sad when he saw how the Indian
community there was helping the Europeans to exploit the Burmese. This
experience made him realise how important it was for Indians who chose

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

to settle abroad to identify themselves with the local people of the concerned
country.*

Gandhi's journey from Calcutta to Rajkot was to be in the nature of a
cross-country tour meant to make him familiar with conditions prevalent then
in this ancient land. He decided to travel third class and equipped himself iike
a pilgrim. Gokhale had at first laughed at Gandhi's plan, but when he got to
know the purpose behind it he liked the idea. Gokhale wanted to be at the
railway station to see him off. When Gandhi dissuaded him from taking this
trouble, the latter insisted: '! should not have come if you had gone first class,
but now I have to.'

T ravelling like a common man, Gandhi saw and experienced a lot which
otherwise he would never have known. He broke his journey at Varanasi,
Agra, Jaipur and Palanpur. While in Varanasi, he called on Mrs. Annie Besant
who had just recovered from an illness, but did not spend more than a few
moments with her in view of her delicate health.

***

Gandhi began his law practice at Rajkot. For some time, he did not
have many briefs. This provided him the much-needed rest that Dr. Mehta
had strongly recommended to him. Within 3-4 months the work picked up. A
few successful cases gave him the confidence that he could establish himself
at Bombay too. Gokhale's proposal that he should settle down there, practise
at the bar and help him in public work, was also in his mind. He was still
debating the issue with himself, when Kevalram Dave, his old benefactor,
strongly felt that Gandhi should not waste any more time vegetating in Rajkot
and persuaded him to set up office at Bombay. The only problem was that of
finances. Soon he received a remittance due to him from South Africa. Within
a few days he moved to Bombay, hired chambers in Agakhan Buildings in the
Fort area and a house in Girgaum.

Before he could settle down, his second son Manilal went down
with typhoid, which was further complicated by pneumonia. The doctor
wanted the boy to be fed on eggs and chicken broth to sustain whatever
vitality he had. He made it clear that the medicine itself would have little
effect. Vegetarianism, however, was an article of faith with Gandhi and he
could not violate it even under such compulsion. Talking to the doctor, he
argued that there should be a limit even to the means of keeping oneself
alive. He persuaded the doctor to keep a check on the boy's pulse, chest
and lungs, etc., while he would himself give him hydropathic treatment
based on Louis Kuhne's system with which he was conversant. As for the
diet, he kept him on orange juice diluted with water. To start with, there
was no improvement. At times he questioned himself whether it was right
on his part to play with the child's life, and yet he continued to administer

* Gandhi had not yet translated this sound idea into practice in so far as the attitude of Indians
in South Africa towards the Blacks there was concerned.

HOMEWARD

177

the same treatment. Ultimately, when the boy's condition became critical,
wet-sheet packs applied by him as a last resort brought the temperature
under control, whereafter the fever ran its normal course without any
complication. Later, he wrote about it: 'Who can say whether his recovery
was due to God's grace, or to hydropathy, or to careful dietary and nursing?
Let everyone decide according to his own faith. For my part I was sure that
God had saved my honour, and that belief remains unaltered to this day.'
After Manilal recovered, Gandhi left his Girgaum house, which was rather
damp, and shifted to a better place in Santa Cruz area.

He had been to Sir Pherozeshah Mehta to seek his blessings. What
he got from him was a warning that he should not waste away in Bombay his
small savings of Natal. Instead of feeling disheartened, Gandhi took up things
in right earnest. His clients in South Africa entrusted to him most of the
cases they had at Bombay. This work was enough for him to make both ends
meet. Meanwhile he was trying to gain a foothold in the High Court. All told,
he had reasons to feel at ease as far as his profession was concerned. He
was even able to take a life-insurance policy for Rs.1 0,000 to provide something
for his wife and children to fall back upon in case anything happened to him.

Gokhale had not lost track of him. He would drop in at his chambers
now and then, often bringing with him persons with whom he wanted Gandhi
to be acquainted. From time to time he kept him in touch with the problems
he was having to grapple with. This was his way of inducting Gandhi into
Indian politics.

***

Gandhi had been away from South Africa for about a year. The
problem of Indian settlers there, however, remained uppermost in his mind.
He was continuing to correspond with his associates at Durban. In
November 1 901 , the Natal Government issued a regulation declaring any
persons who did not qualify for parliamentary franchise ineligible for
recruitment to government service. Apparently the rule was not directed
against any particular community, but was in fact intended to exclude
Indians from this avenue of employment. This was a serious development:
somehow, it was not brought to Gandhi's notice and he would have remained
unaware of it but for some intelligent Indian in Natal sending him a copy of
the new Civil Service rules. A little later, Gandhi received another distressing
piece of information from Durban that, according to a forthcoming
amendment of the Indian Immigration Act, the children of indentured
immigrants on attaining majority, i.e., boys at the age of 16 and girls at
1 3, would either h^ve to return to India, for which the colonial Government
would provide free passage, or remain there under indenture, or take out a
license on payment of £3 annual fee. It was going to be a charter of
perpetual slavery for the young Indians in question who could not hope to
establish themselves elsewhere or afford to pay that levy.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

On getting to know about these ominous moves, Gandhi raised a
clamour against the renewed attempt at imposition of further disabilities
on the British Indian settlers in the Colony. Besides enlisting the help of
the Press and making use of Gokhale's good offices, he sought
intervention by the East India Association in London. He also arranged
for a memorial to be sent from the Bombay Presidency Association to
the Secretary of State for India.

All this time, the undertaking Gandhi had given that if the Indians in
Natal and the Transvaal needed him within a year he could be summoned
back was weighing on his mind. Before setting up his office at Bombay, he
had requested his friends twice to free him from this obligation unless the
condition was to be enforced soon. There was no definite response for several
months. Just about the time he started feeling settled in Bombay, he got an
s.o.s. sparked by Joseph Chamberlain's planned visit to the
South African colonies. Initially, Gandhi was required to go to London wherefrom
he was to proceed to South Africa. Eventually the trip to England was called
off. He set sail direct for Natal in the third week of November 1 902.

Although there was nothing clear, he thought he might be able to get
back from South Africa before long. Instead of winding up his office, he
left it in the charge of his nephew Chhagan Lai who had already been working
with him as a paid assistant. He was also to look after his family who
remained in occupation of the bungalow at Santa Cruz. Manilal was still
convalescing after his illness. Gandhi had arranged for Harilal and Gokuldas
to go to Rajkot and join a school there as soon as the place was free from
the threat of plague. The other two boys, Ramdas and Devdas were too
young for schooling.

The dislocation of settled life on this occasion was not altogether
painless. He was again taking a path about which he was not sure where it
would lead. He philosophized about it in his own way: ' ... I had inured
myself to an uncertain life. I think it is wrong to expect certainties in this
world, where all else but God, that is Truth, is an uncertainty. All that appears
and happens about and around us is uncertain, transient. But there is a
Supreme Being hidden therein as a Certainty, and one would be blessed if
one could catch a glimpse of that Certainty, and hitch one's wagon to it.
The quest for that Truth is the sutnmum bonum of life.'

A NEW CHALLENGE

Indians who had left the Transvaal on the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer
War in 1 899 were clamouring to get back. Not knowing what to do with them,
Lord Milner on whose shoulders the responsibility of establishing the post¬
war administration rested was anxious to tackle this problem within the
framework of a well-set Asiatic policy. His own ideas about registration of
Asians on payment of the £3 license fee, limitations on their rights of acquiring
and owning fixed property and their confinement to separate townships with
the exception of only some educated and well-to-do persons were quite clear
The Secretary of State for Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain had a somewhat
different approach. His objections were, no doubt, based on expediency rather
than on principle. Even while criticising the policy proposed by Milner, he
was prepared to acquiesce in it if its goals could be attained by such indirect
means that did not look too ugly.

The T ransvaal Indians were for their part preparing themselves to oppose
by all possible means the enforcement of segregation laws. The stir at
Johannesburg had its echoes in London too. Sir William Wedderburn, Chairman
of the British Committee of the Indian National Congress convened a meeting
on the morning of October 21, 1902 at the Westminster Hotel. It was this
'breakfast meeting' that Gandhi was initially required to attend, but he had
been unable to go to England for this purpose. Dadabhai Naoroji, who presided
over it, recalling in his opening address Macaulay's claim that 'if a slave but
touched British soil his shackles fell,' remarked that the chains which bound
his countrymen in the Transvaal while they were ruled by the Boers had,
instead of easing off, become more unbending now that they lived under the
British flag. As decided at this meeting, a deputation waited on Lord George
Hamilton, Secretary of State for India, who held out an assurance that he
would do all in his power to further the cause set out in the memorandum
presented to him.

The happenings in London had an immediate reaction in South Africa.
The White League with a network of branches in several towns of the
Transvaal came into existence with the object of resisting any attempt at
formulation of a more liberal policy in dealing with the Asiatic problem. By
this time, it had been announced that Joseph Chamberlain would pay a
visit to South Africa. The Transvaal as well as Natal Indians did not want
to lose this opportunity of representing their case to the Secretary of
State for Colonies. The eagerness with which the Gujarati merchants, who

180

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

controlled Indian politics in the two colonies, thought of Gandhi on this
occasion shows how helpless they had felt in his absence. They urged him
to come over quickly and he managed to reach Durban just in time. Hurriedly
he prepared a petition to be submitted on behalf of the Indians living in Natal.
A deputation of sixteen persons led by Gandhi met Joseph Chamberlain on
December 28, 1902. He was courteous, but cold. With deliberate formality
he said that he would confer with the Natal Government about their
representation, but made it clear that, with the Colony having a responsible
government, he could do very little about the laws already in force. He also
advised them to patch up with the European colonists if they wished to live in
their midst. All told, it was a disappointing experience. Gandhi could see no
hope of a change for the better.

The Indians in Pretoria and Johannesburg were also waiting for Gandhi
to come and prepare a representation to be submitted to Chamberlain on
their behalf. Entry into the Colony was at this time under strict regulation.* It
was apparently a sequel to the serious economic dislocation, including
shortage of food and clothing, caused by the war. The way this system worked,
with the barrier made particularly difficult to surmount for the Indians, it was
used as a means of preventing many of them who had taken refuge in Natal
from returning to their homes in the Transvaal. Gandhi did not fall even in that
category. He had his own reputation as a troublesome ' coolie barrister' which
the permit-issuing officials would not have ignored. Eager to go acrgss without
delay, he sought the help of his friend R.C. Alexander, Superintendent of
Police at Durban, obtained a clearance through his mediation and within an
hour of getting the much-needed permit, was on the train to Pretoria.

Only on reaching his destination could he have an exact idea of the
distress of his countrymen in the Transvaal. The regulations which prohibited
the British Indians from moving out after 9 p.m. without special permit,
from travelling by rail except third class, from walking on the footpaths or
driving in hired vehicles in Pretoria and Johannesburg, which were not too
rigidly put into effect under the Boer rule, had been taken up for enforcement
soon after the war. Even while there was some relaxation in these matters
lately, so long as the prescriptions in question were not rescinded, there
was no certainty how long this leniency would last. On the other hand,
the Indians had reason to apprehend that the laws pertaining to their
compulsory registration, exclusion from general property rights and removal
to the locations, etc., were going to be strictly enforced. The newly created
Asiatic Department, having cast its tentacles in all directions, already
looked like a 'frightful engine of oppression'. Its unduly restrictive policy
regarding grant of permits to Indians and immigrants from other
Asian countries for entry into the Transvaal, which the Europeans
could get for the asking, had given rise to a good deal of corruption. Some

* It had been governed by the Peace Preservation Ordinance since November 19, 1902.

According to it no Asian was allowed to come in without a permit issued by the Registrar of

Asiatics.

A NEW CHALLENGE

181

of the officers were known to have committed serious improprieties.

Gandhi's first task at Pretoria was to draft the memorandum to be
presented to Chamberlain. When it came to composition of the deputation
that was to wait upon the Secretary of State, the Department of Asian Affairs
saw to it that Gandhi was not allowed to act as a spokesman of the T ransvaal
Indians. No heed was paid to representations on behalf of the British Indian
community based on reasons like: he had in the past represented it on a
number of occasions; he had been specially sent for from Bombay because
he had studied the anti-Indian laws better than any one else. When Sheth
Tyeb Haji Khan Mohammed met the Chief of the Asiatic Department about it,
the latter asked him curtly: 'Who is Mr. Gandhi? Why has he come here?'

'He is our adviser,' said Tyeb Sheth with due deference, 'and he has
come here at our request.'

'Then what are we here for? Have we not been appointed to protect
you? What does Gandhi know of the conditions here?' The official's face wore
an icy cold look.

'Of course, you are there. But Gandhi is our man. He knows our
language and understands our problems. You are after all officials.' The Sheth
was trying to be persuasive.

As desired by the officer, Gandhi himself along with Tyeb Sheth and
others went to him. They were all kept standing. Addressing Gandhi, the
officer asked sharply what had brought him to the Transvaal.

'I have come here at the request of my fellow-countrymen to help them
with my advice,' replied Gandhi coolly.

'But don't you know that you have no right to come here? The permit
you hold was issued by mistake. You are not a domiciled Indian. You must
go back. You shall not wait on Mr. Chamberlain. It is for the protection of the
Indians here that this Department has been created. Well, you may go.'

Having dismissed Gandhi brusquely without allowing him the ghost of
a chance to reply, the bumptious autocrat gave the others a good dressing-
down. They could do nothing right away. They were, however, beyond
themselves with rage when they returned. Gandhi also had felt pained, but he
knew that at this moment he had to swallow the insult. The others were not
prepared to rest content. They would rather call off presentation of the
memorandum as a protest. Gandhi somehow calmed down his friends and
persuaded them to have George Godfrey, an Indian barrister, as a leader of
the deputation. Joseph Chamberlain would have known whatever had happened
with regard to Gandhi's exclusion: more probably, all this was done with his
approval. The customary platitudes apart, the main point he made in his
reply was something like: What is the use of passing at this stage any
legislation that would be replaced after the Colony was granted responsible
government in two or three years? The Indians should better try to conciliate
public opinion and tie up with the local authorities.

***

182

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Soon the work for which Gandhi had been called to South Africa was
practically over. However, he felt so agonized by what he had seen that
he could not think in terms of returning to India. Having come in response to
a specific request, he had to take it as a fresh mandate imposing upon him
some definite moral responsibility. On taking stock of the overall situation in
the subcontinent, he found that in Natal and the Cape, for the time being,
nothing better could be done than concentrate on seeking maximum
administrative relief under the existing laws. In Transvaal, if the abominable
anti-Indian laws which the Kruger Government had not enforced were to be
implemented by the new regime with British meticulousness, the Indians
would be doomed. The hideous manner in which the Peace Preservation
Order, a wartime security measure, was being abused by the Department of
Asiatic Affairs to prevent the entry of Indians into the Colony, was an exceedingly
dismal sight. In this office, under the control of officials who had come to
South Africa from certain Asian countries ruled by the British and had brought
with them a tradition of unbounded autocracy, he saw portents of the grim
future that was in store for his community in the Transvaal. If it could by some
means be extricated from this damnation, it may even open possibilities of a
better future for Indian settlers in the other parts of South Africa. He did not
consider it a hopeless task because the British Government could not easily
shy away from its commitments regarding fair and honourable treatment to
its Indian subjects in this particular Colony.

Gandhi had before him a challenge that he could not help taking up.
For doing so he had to establish himself somewhere in the Transvaal. It
was also clear that it might take years to complete this work. He had to
think over it for some time. By the middle of February 1 903, he had decided
to pitch his tent in Johannesburg. Surprisingly, he had no difficulty about
his enrolment in the Transvaal Supreme Court Bar. With the help of a European
friend, he was able to find a suitable place for his office in the lawyers'
enclave. He lived austerely in a single-room suite close by. It did not take
him long to build up his clientele. By June 1903 he found himself doing
quite well. When he felt confident about it, he arranged for the office at
Bombay to be wound up.

***

At the time of leaving Bombay, Gandhi had told Kasturba that he
should be able to get back to India before the end of 1 903 and in case that
was not possible she would join him in South Africa. He could now see
that his early return to India was out of the question. He was earnest about
fulfilling the word he had given to his wife. How to do so: this was one
problem to which there was no simple answer. This is how he looked at
the whole thing: 'If... she would allow me to recede from the promise and
not insist on coming here, there is a likelihood of my being able to return
to India earlier than I otherwise would. In any case, according to present

A NEW CHALLENGE

183

plans, I must not think of returning for three or four years. Will she consent
to remaining there all that time? If she does not, then, of course, she must
come here at the end of the year, and I must be content quietly to settle down
in Johannesburg for ten years or so. It will, however, be a terrible thing to
establish a new home here and break it up as I did in Natal... it would cost a
very great deal and, if there were great difficulties about it in Durban, they will
be greater in Johannesburg.'

He put these thoughts down in a letter to Haridasbhai*, concluding it
thus:’! do think that if she (Kasturba) would consent to remain there, for the
time being at any rate, it would enable me to give undivided attention to
public work. As she knows, she had very little of my company in Natal;
probably, she would have less in Johannesburg. However, S wish to be guided
entirely by her sentiments and I place myself absolutely in her hands. If
she must come, then she may make preparations in October and leave in
the beginning of November.' Haridasbhai was to consult Kasturba and write
back to Gandhi. He had also sent a copy of the letter to his nephew
Chhaganlal with a request to read it out to his aunt. Lest there should be
any doubt left, he had added: 'It is highly desirable that she should decide
to stay on there as life here is rather expensive. If she remains there, savings
made in this place will enable her and children to lead a comparatively easy
life in India. ... But if she insists, I shall not retreat from the promise I made
her on the eve of my departure.’

Her husband had put in a caveat that Kasturba could not possibly
disregard. So she thought it proper to stay on in India for the time being.
Gandhi had, thus, freed himself from the obligation to set up a regular household
immediately. Having got rid of this worry, he was able to concentrate on his
professional and political work without any distraction. Gandhi had dutifully
executed his promise to Kasturba. In doing so he had found it convenient to
bring into relief the financial aspect which, he knew, she would not easily
ignore. He himself had been primarily guided by the demands of public service.
One cannot but notice that on this occasion he felt least bound by the emotional
ties with his wife and children.

***

One of Gandhi's political co-workers, Madanjit Vyavaharik, a former
schoolmaster from Bombay, had set up in 1898 a small printing press at
Durban. A good part of his work pertained to the production of pamphlets
and brochures on behalf of the Natal Indian Congress. In 1903, Madanjit
came up with a proposal to start a weekly organ. Gandhi, himself conscious
of the important role of the Press for sustaining any kind of political activity,
welcomed the idea. This is how the Indian Opinion came to be

* Haridas Vakhatchand Vora. He was a leading lawyer of Kathiawar and was very close to
the Gandhi family.

184

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

launched. Prior to this, for about two years, a small weekly journal based at
Maritzburg, had been edited and published by P.S. Aiyer*. Initially started as
a bilingual, it gave up its English edition in April 1 902 and shrank into a purely
Tamil paper. That this weekly received advertisement support only from the
Tamil petty traders had meant some sort of class disjunction between them
and the Gujarati merchants. The latter having remained indifferent, P.S. Aiyer
ultimately felt compelled to wind up the journal. Anyhow, the first issue of
Indian Opinion made its appearance on June 4, 1 903. Published at Durban in
English, Gujarati, Tamil and Hindi, the paper was intended to advocate the
cause of British Indians in South Africa, put before them their own deficiencies,
show them their path of duty and remove causes of misunderstanding between
them and the European community.

Interaction with newspapers had for many years been an important
part of Gandhi's work, but with the inception of the Indian Opinion it became
necessary for him to write regularly. The wide scope of his contributions
to the journal added a great deal to his daily workload. Whatever he
wrote was directed toward building up public opinion in general and
educating the Indian community about the happenings in South Africa
and to some extent in India also. Gandhi's style of writing, as it flowered
from this point onward, was so forceful that what came from his pen
could not be easily ignored by his readers. Mansukhlal Naazar was the
editor. The production and commercial management rested with Madanjit
who was the de jure proprietor. Though this was the formal set-up, the
actual brunt of the editorial and managerial work had to be borne by
Gandhi. It was natural then that the Transvaal received more
comprehensive coverage.

When the journal was started, no one could anticipate that it would
call for much of investment. The editing and some of the other work was
dependent on purely voluntary and unpaid assistance. The Natal Indian
Congress and the Transvaal British Indian Association** subsidised it for
meeting the cost of complimentary copies. Despite all the expedients,
the journal was not financially viable. Soon it became clear that if it was to
be kept alive it must get further support which Gandhi had to provide from
his own pocket. During the first year he had to draw on his savings for this
purpose to the extent of £2,000. More important than acceptance of this
monetary burden was the manner in which he poured out his soul into the
pages of the journal week after week.

***

The immediate problem in the Transvaal, as Lord Milner could see,
was the continuing influx of Indians, mostly former residents, and their clamour

* An active but somewhat recalcitrant member of the Natal Congress. Gandhi was not even
confident about his good faith and scruples.

** Which had come into existence in the beginning of 1903

A NEW CHALLENGE

185

for permits to trade in the face of resistance by the European settlers to what
they considered unrestricted licensing. The latter also resented failure on the
part of the Government to enforce the law under which Asiatics were to be
confined to locations set apart for them. Milner had persuaded himself to
believe that until an alternative line of action could be determined, the only
option available to the Government was to administer the laws inherited from
the South African Republic. He knew howto blunt the opposition of the Colonial
Office to this approach.

A notification issued in April 1 903 (called Bazaar Notice) revealed the
lines on which Milner had been wanting to shape his Asiatic policy. It amounted
to reasserting Law 3 of 1885, as amended in 1886. There was no change
regarding the levy of the £3 license fee. While it pretended to respect the
commercial interests of those Asians who were trading outside bazaars (a
euphemism for locations) at the time of outbreak of war, it exposed them to
serious hardship by prohibiting the transfer of licenses. It left in suspense
Indians who were not in business when the war broke out or carried it on
without formal permits as also those who were granted fresh licenses after
the cessation of hostilities. The provision contained in it for special dispensation
to be given by the Government to applicants fulfilling certain conditions for
residing in a locality other than the one specially set apart for Asiatics was a
slur on the whole lot of immigrants from Asia in so far as every one of them
was considered unfit to reside among the Europeans unless he was specially
exempted. Above all, by issuing this order the Government seemed to have
shelved indefinitely the question of repealing the anti-Asiatic legislation of
the old regime.

The British Indian Association was having the same role to play in the
Colony as the Congress had in the neighbouring Natal. But this new body
had no formal constitution. The absence of even the membership fee
encouraged the poorest among Indians to participate in its activities, though
the decision-making rested with a central committee elected at a general-
body meeting and dominated by the leading merchants. Whenever there
was an important issue to be settled, a mass meeting was convened.
When the Bazaar Notice was issued, the Association did not want to lose
time in raising its voice against the undesirable features of this executive
order. Gandhi, its Honorary Secretary, had enlisted the support of some
influential white residents of Johannesburg, who in a separate representation
pleaded for the matter to be reconsidered. They argued that the British Indians
resident in the Colony were 'an orderly, law-abiding and useful section of the
community' and were equal in honesty and sobriety to others who were not
British subjects and yet enjoyed full trading and other rights.

A deputation of Indians led by Gandhi met Lord Milner and had
with him a long discussion in continuation of which the Association submitted
a petition presenting the Indian community's major grievances relating
to the working of the Asiatic Office, the regressive nature of the Bazaar
Notice and the renewed threat of disabilities embedded in Law 3 of 1 885

186

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

with its amendment of 1886. All that it asked for was abrogation of the
legislation that imposed handicaps on Indians because of their brown skin.
As a matter of compromise, it accepted the principle of restricted
immigration. It was anxious, however, that the Indians should have freedom
to trade, to move about and to hold landed property subject to ordinary
legal prescriptions for those who had settled in the Colony and those who
might be allowed to come in future. Lord Milner, who besides holding the
office of High Commissioner for South Africa, exercised in his capacity as a
Governor special control over the Transvaal as well as the Orange River
Colony,* was polite and sympathetic but conceded nothing, if there was
anything to console the Indians, it was only that the Bazaar Notice was a
temporary measure and that the Government was considering new
legislation.

Lord Milner's impassiveness was nothing when compared to
insensitiveness on the part of Sir Arthur Lawley who, as the Lieutenant-
Governor of the Transvaal, was directly concerned with the actual task of
administration. He sincerely believed that any attempt to ignore the
universal cry of 'a white man's country' and to make further concessions
to British Indians would be attended with the most deplorable results. He
was of the firm view that except those who had established business
outside locations before the war and some who might after careful scrutiny
be given special permission to live (but not trade) in unreserved areas, all
Asiatics should be required to live and trade in locations. It is not surprising
that in the Colony ruled by him there were cases of undisguised high¬
handedness against the Indian traders.

Within the Transvaal administrative hierarchy at this time Patrick
Duncan, the Colonial Secretary, was disposed towards a more realistic
view of the Indian traders' problem. In December 1903 he had proposed an
amendment of the Bazaar Notice whereby the Asians who were actually carrying
on trade before the war in places not specially set apart by the Government,
although not formally covered by permits, would be given trade licenses. But
according to the decision eventually taken in the teeth of opposition, even after
the persons concerned had satisfied the designated officers about the validity
of their claims, they would receive only provisional licenses that would at a
later stage he reviewed by a commission to be set up for the purpose. Many of
the applicants had already presented various kinds of evidence in their favour
to the officials of the Asiatic Department before they were granted licenses
after the cessation of hostilities. The way Gandhi had argued was: if a regular
commission was going to take evidence, why should these poor people be put
to the expense of proving their case before the revenue officers? His considered
advice was: 'The Indians must keep themselves absolutely cool and

* Appointed High Commissioner for South Africa and Governor of the Cape Colony in May
1897, Alfred Milner had given up the latter office in March 1901. From August 1901 he was
appointed Governor of the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony, while continuing as High
Commissioner for South Africa.

A NEW CHALLENGE

187

remain patient, still relying upon justice being ultimately done. They
must make respectful representations to the Government, but they should
also firmly decline to give proof to the Receivers of Revenue, offering to
do so before the commission that is to be appointed. It may be that
prosecutions will take place for carrying on trade without licenses, and
if summons are issued and penalties imposed for carrying on trade without
a license, the persons prosecuted should rise to the occasion, decline
to pay any fines, and go to gaol.' This was Gandhi's first posture of
defiance in relation to the state authority, it is ddubtful if the merchants
concerned were at this stage willing to go to jail. Anyhow, Gandhi had
sown the seeds of passive resistance (as early as January 1904). He
had simultaneously sought Milner's intervention and the Government was

discreet enough not to prosecute even those who failed to obtainr licenses
for 1904 pending the findings of the commission. Thus there was no
occasion for a showdown.

Ironically, the Transvaal had at this time feit the need for importing
labour from India as Natal had been doing for over forty years. Milner was
looking forward to large-scale industrial development of the Transvaal and
induction of a big chunk of skilled labour from Britain into the Colony. Besides
the economic advantage that was to accrue, it could also lead to a
demographic balance between the Boefand non-Boer white population. For
this plan to be workable, it was necessary to have an adequate supply of
comparatively cheap unskilled labour. A part of it could be obtained from
amongst the native blacks, but for the rest it was necessary to draw on the
reservoir of manpower in India. The first request formally made through
Whitehall was for 1 0,000 indentured coolies for railway work. While holding
out an assurance of good treatment to them, the Transvaal Government had
put in compulsory repatriation on expiry of their indenture as an overriding
condition. In this matter Milner was to transact business with Lord Curzon
who firmly believed that the way the South African colonies had been allowed
to handle the Indian problem was in the nature of a great betrayal. He
immediately seized the opportunity that had come his way for insisting upon
a better deal for the Indians who had settled there. The authorities in London
did not like the position taken by him. All this time, Gandhi had been urging
Gokhale for sustained action to build up strong public opinion in India without
which Lord Curzon would find it difficult to achieve what he had in view. At one
stage, the Viceroy asked the Secretary of State for India to remember that:
9... the name of South Africa stinks in the nostrils of India ... There are tens of
thousands of natives of India in South Africa already. These persons are
subject to invidious, and in some cases odious disabilities. The public wants
us to lessen the burden upon them before sending any more.'

Initially, Milner was agreeable to meeting some of Curzon's demands,
but when it came to specifics he dithered. Alfred Lyttleton, now the Secretary
of State for Colonies, though sympathetic to the Indian cause, was
not prepared to put excessive pressure on the Transvaal Government

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which, he apprehended, might accentuate the demand for self-government.
Ultimately the Transvaal had to abandon the proposal for getting indentured
labour from India and turn to China for meeting its urgent needs.

Gandhi had his own views on the labour question. He was wholly
opposed to immigration of indentured labourers from India and for that
matter from any other Asian country. He saw no reason why the South
African colonies should not be an outlet for England's paupers. Once the
employers in the Transvaal, in his opinion, got used to dependence upon
Asian labour, immigration of white labour as well as drawal of native hands
on a large scale would be practically impossible. In any event, frustration
of the efforts made by the Transvaal Government to obtain indentured
Indians left its shadow on the status of independent Indian settlers and
the scope for any more to come in.

The term 'coolie location' was already in common use among the
Transvaalers. It carried with it the white man's disdain for Indian settlers in
the Colony. In the location at Johannesburg, the residents had held their
plots on long lease. The bulk of Indians living there were ignorant and
poor. Within a small area the population had swelled to the point of
saturation. The municipality itself had been negligent. Prolonged lack of
care had turned the place into a filthy slum. Instead of measures being
taken to put things right, the existing condition was made an excuse to
dispossess the settlers of their leasehold rights. The idea was to
accommodate this Indian population in another locality, but the authorities,
having failed to do so, allowed the residents for an indefinite period to stay
on where they were. So after the area was taken over by the Town Cou ncil ,
the conditions became still worse due to further overcrowding and continued
neglect of sanitation. Before the acquisition took place, the plot-holders
had to maintain some standard of cleanliness in their anxiety to be on the
right side of law, but the municipality had no such fear.

Gandhi was deeply involved in the affairs of this location because
of his role as legal adviser to a few dozen dwellers who were dissatisfied
with the compensation offered to them by the municipality for acquisition
of their plots and had gone in appeal to the special tribunal appointed to
try their cases. In the second week of February 1904, he wrote to the
Health Officer of Johannesburg informing him how unsatisfactory the
hygienic conditions in the location were and making it clear that if urgent
remedial measures were not taken, epidemic of some kind was sure to
break out. Despite this warning the Public Health Department took no
corrective action.

What Gandhi had feared came to pass sootier than he could possibly
have imagined. A long spell of wet weather combining with insanitary
conditions caused a few cases of acute pneumonia which turned into
pneumonic plague due to an infection brought by some residents of the

A NEW CHALLENGE

189

location from one of the gold mines where they worked with non-Indian
diggers coming from an area that had already been affected by this
endemic disease. The Public Health Department had known about them
early enough. It made some investigation but reached the conclusion
that it was not plague. How serious the crisis was became clear within
3-4 days when a number of Indians were brought from the mine in a
dying condition.

Madanjit, on a visit to Johannesburg for some work relating to the
Indian Opinion, happened to be in the location at this critical time. Moved by
the sight of numerous victims of the dreadful disease, he sent an urgent
message to Gandhi who immediately got hold of his bicycle and rushed to
the spot. From this point onward, the matter was not left to chance. A vacant
house was brought into use to isolate the patients. Dr. William Godfrey, a
practising Indian doctor in Johannesburg, placed his services at the disposal
of the community. By the next morning, the authorities also had realised the
gravity of the situation. The old Customs House with its large warehouse was
converted into a temporary hospital. A number of voluntary Indian nurses
worked day and night. Despite all possible care, the mortality rate was high.
The form that the plague had taken was the deadliest yet known. What at
first appeared as a slight temperature and a little cough would develop into
high fever, spitting of blood and violent convulsions within a day. Delirium and
death would follow the third day. The disease was highly contagious with no
known cure. The doctors, nurses and all others who attended to the patients
ran the risk of falling a prey to the scourge.

Now, an organized fight against this epidemic was Gandhi's foremost
task. He could be seen cycling all over the place on his errands of mercy.
He was assisted by his four Indian clerks. Louis Walter Ritch, Gandhi's
theosophist friend who had joined him as an articled clerk after giving up a
managerial job with a commercial firm, insisted on looking after the Indian
plague-patients regardless of what happened to him. Keeping in mind his
large family, Gandhi did not like to expose him to serious risk. So he gave
him work outside the danger zone. Among those who tended the sick,
special care was taken to see that the nurse from the General Hospital was
kept safe from infection. As ill luck would have it, this kind-hearted lady too
suffered an attack and could not be saved.

The number of fatal cases had gone up abruptly. The bulk of them
had taken place in the first stage. The moment the Indian community
realised what had happened, it worked with full determination to put down
the menace. Everyone readily complied with the regulations issued by
the authorities.

The Public Health Department of Johannesburg was initially slow in
its response, but after it became conscious of the danger, it commissioned
special Plague Officers who grappled with the threat unsparingly. Gandhi had
a feeling that the Department became wide awake when it found that the
localities inhabited by the Europeans were also not immune to the

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disease, either. Anyhow, he commended this solicitude at least for the
white citizens and extended Jiis full cooperation to the municipality for
vacating the Indian location. All its residents were transferred to a camp
at Klipspruit, about thirteen miles from the city, where they lived under
canvas until they could be rehabilitated. Immediately after its evacuation,
the location was set on fire. There were many other measures taken.
Soon the fury of the epidemic had been checked, though stray cases
continued for some time.

Gandhi found it necessary to make it known to the people how defaults
on the part of keepers of public health had caused the ghastly tragedy
witnessed by the so-called coolie location at Johannesburg. He could not
have kept quiet about it when he saw that Indians were being blamed for
what had transpired. Those who were jealous of Indian enterprise wanted to
take full advantage of the epidemic. The authorities were lending them a
helping hand by putting the Indian traders to all kinds of inconvenience in
the name of plague precautions. The position in the outlying districts was
particularly bad. Gandhi did not want these happenings to remain unnoticed
and he wrote about them at length in the Indian Opinion. He was anxious
that this aftermath of the epidemic should be viewed by the authorities in
London in the context of the gross negligence of the Johannesburg
municipality that led to the outbreak of plague in the vicinity of this city. He
sent a detailed note on the subject to Dadabhai Naoroji who in turn passed
it on to Lyttleton, Secretary of State for Colonies, bringing to his notice
Gandhi's apprehension that the epidemic was going to be used as an excuse
to impose further restrictions on the Indians. When the Colonial Office
questioned Lord Milner about it, he hedged, saying that the charges levelled
against the Public Health Department were absolutely unjustifiable. On
hearing from Dadabhai, Gandhi challenged the Transvaal Government's
rebuttal in a direct letter to Lord Milner and made him see that what he had
stated was the barest truth. To Naoroji, he made it clear: ’... I have nothing
to withdraw from my letter... and I write this under a full sense of my
responsibility ... I would not have been serving the truth if I said anything
less than I have done in my letter... but for the criminal neglect of the
Johannesburg municipality, the outbreak would never have occurred. It and
it alone must ever be held responsible for the awful death roll of March. All
honour to it that, after the situation was realised, it spent money like water
in dealing with the calamity, but that work could never undo the past.'

★★•A*

It was hard for the Indian trading class to reconcile itself to the cruel
blow it had suffered because of the Bazaar Notice. A test case had, therefore,
been brought in the Transvaal Supreme Court to have its verdict again on
the issue whether the term 'habitation' in Act 3 of 1885 also covered
'trading' premises. The case was filed on behalf of Habib Motan. The

A NEW CHALLENGE

191

British who were on the side of Indians when they fought a similar case
in the pre-war days, now forcefully opposed the Indian contention. It
was a great day when the Chief Justice Sir James Rose Innes delivered
his judgment, giving a ruling that under the law of 1 885 the Government
could relegate Indians to certain streets, wards and locations for purposes
of residence only. At long last the Indian community's stand on this
issue was vindicated. Lord Milner had no option but to implement the
Supreme Court's decision. The officials were immediately told that
provisions of the Bazaar Notice to the extent they applied to trading
were no longer in effect.

This judgment and the administrative action it led to came as a shock
to the European merchants. Gandhi could see how alarmed they were. On
May 16, 1904, he wrote: The faint echoes of the clamour... raised against
the Indians enjoying the fruit of their most dearly won victory have already
begun to be heard, and it would not be at all surprising if the Government
sought to rush through the Legislative Council a Bill, again robbing the
Indians of the fruits of their victory.'

The Secretary of State for Colonies, torn between his duty towards
the British Indian subjects and his desire to lend support to the Transvaal
Government in its efforts to find some means of circumventing the Supreme
Court verdict, did not know which way to turn. Lord Milner was putting
constant pressure on the Colonial Office to obtain its consent to a proposal
to circumscribe the opportunities demanded by indians not already
established in business. In August 1 904, he apprised the Colonial Office of
the widespread feeling that the unrestricted access of Asiatics to trading
licenses was leading towards decline of the white merchant class. He also
reported about a resolution moved in the Legislative Council calling for a
commission of inquiry and demanding that meanwhile the Secretary of
State should authorize the introduction of a legislation suspending the issue
of further licenses for Asiatics to trade. It must be said to Alfred Lyttleton's
credit that he did not agree even temporarily to deny British Indians the
rights secured by them under the new judgment of the Supreme Court.

In the meantime Lord Milner, gripped by an anxiety to guard against
Indians gaining entry into the Colony by unlawful means, insisted upon
registration of all Indian residents de novo and replacement of the old
permits by new ones. Although it was unwarranted by law, under Gandhi's
advice this process was gone through by the Indian community in the hope
that by this act of grace it would earn the Government's goodwill .

The white colonists were not in a mood to relent. The strong feelings
growing among them came into the open at the National Convention on
the Asiatic Question held at Pretoria on November 10, 1904. It was
attended by delegates from all urban centres. Various kinds of invective
were hurled at the Indian traders. The Colonial Office was assailed for
its indulgence towards them. Louis Botha, the future Prime Minister of
the Union of South Africa, lent full support to this display of militancy: 'I am

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

most grateful to see [that] the movement in connection with the Asiatic
question has taken a manly position against a threatening attitude which
more and more curtails the rights of the white population.'

Precisely one week later, the British Indian Association convened a
public meeting in Johannesburg. While protesting against the proceedings of
the anti-Asiatic convention, the Association accepted the principle of
restrictions on immigration on general, not on racial, lines. It also suggested
that a regulation might be framed providing for the grant of new trade licenses
by local boards subject, however, to an appeal to the Supreme Court. This
conciliatory approach on the part of Indians should have pacified the Europeans.
But they were in too ugly a mood. Of all places, Potchefstroom, though small
and obscure, gained exceptional notoriety for anti-Indian agitation. The white
residents of this town chose to take the law into their hands. Efforts were
openly made to make it hot for the Indians and those eager to help them.
Gandhi's advice to his compatriots was not to feel upset as such hysteria
would ultimately spend itself. The climax was, however, reached when the
colonists decided to prevent the construction of a mosque by the Mohammedans
living in this town. On March 4, 1 905 they organized a tumultuous anti-Asiatic
demonstration in front of the Indian stores in the market square. The
proceedings were aimed at creating trouble. At the end of the speeches,
some of the rowdies began to throw stones at the shop windows of the Indian
stores. The situation was brought under control by the Police with great
difficulty. There was not much that British Indian Association could have
done except make a representation to the Colonial Secretary.

In the midst of these misfortunes, the Indian community came by
another small gain. It was in the form of one more judgment that could
be of help to some Indians. Syed Ismail, a resident of Johannesburg had
held a piece of land in the name of a white friend. The latter died during
the war and his estate was attached for insolvency. The land in question
had been acquired by the Government and the sum of £2,000 payable
as compensation was claimed by the trustees. Syed Ismail filed a suit
claiming that the amount should be paid to him. His claim was accepted
by the court on the ground that the law preventing an Indian from the
ownership of immovable property did not preclude him from holding it in
the name of a white. This decision cleared the decks for Indians to
purchase land if they could find some trustworthy Europeans to hold the
property on their behalf.

Gandhi knew that, despite the benefits the Indians had derived from
two favourable judgments, their position on the whole was much worse
than it was before the war. The backing they had received then from the
British High Commissioner and his Agent at Pretoria was a very significant
factor. Whatever was the legal position, the Boer Government found itself
powerless to prosecute the Indians who traded outside the locations. The
1 885 law, in so far as it pertained to the £3 registration fee, was now being
rigorously enforced, whereas during the late regime there was no strictness

A NEW CHALLENGE

193

about it. As for the Indians' entry into the Colony, the situation had now
become far more precarious. Before the war, any Indian could enter the
Transvaal. Now even a bona fide Indian refugee found it extremely difficult to
obtain a permit to come in.

The question of a new legislation to replace Act 3 of 1885 had
remained open, but it was evidently not the Government's intention to
give any better rights than those allowed under the existing law. Gandhi
was intensely conscious that the anti-Indian forces in the Transvaal were
determined to go to any length to accomplish their aim. He had received
with dismay the so-called Lyttleton constitution for the Transvaal
promulgated on March 31 , 1 905. It had left the British coloured subjects
including Indians 'out in the cold.'

By this time Gandhi was beginning to develop some concern for
the South African blacks. Early in 1 905, the Johannesburg Town Council
had passed a resolution to the effect that a Kaffir, allowed to make use
of a bicycle, must wear on his left arm, while riding in the city, a badge
bearing the number of his permit that should be easily visible. Gandhi
wrote on the subject in Indian Opinion of February 11, 1905, taking to
task the white British subjects who had themselves struggled against
the Boers so long but were now indulging in such iniquities against the
non-whites on coming to power.

The four South African colonies might have had dissimilar views about
various issues, but there was no divergence of thinking when it came to shutting
out free Asian immigrants and depriving those already there of even elementary
rights of citizenship. The Orange River Colony had an established anti-Asiatic
tradition. That the Union Jack now waved over Bloemfontein made no difference.
At one stage Milner did think in terms of change, but before long he discovered
the advantage of maintaining status quo. The Lieutenant-Governor H. Goold Adarfis
was more of a Milnerite than Milner himself. In his regime the local municipalities
felt free to pass by-laws subjecting Indians to further disabilities.

In 1904 this Colony had only 455 persons of Asian origin. Of them
hardly 200 might have been Indians. From Gandhi's point of view these settlers,
though only a handful, required 'protection from the studied degradation'
to which they were subjected. He was keeping Dadabhai Naoroji informed
about the happenings in this Colony so that Lyttleton should not remain
oblivious of them.

The sanction of precedent is like an elemental force in the realm of
public administration. Since Natal had an immigration restriction law, the
Cape Colony also felt impelled to go in for a similar legislation in 1902. It
contained a provision whereby an illiterate person from Europe could be
exempted from fulfilling the educational requirement. So the only purpose of
the new enactment was to check the entry of Asians. It was because of

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this inequity that the Colonial Office thought of disallowing this law. But it
agreed to give its assent on getting an assurance that the objectionable part
of the Act would be removed. The continuing anti-Asiatic pressures were,
however, strong enough to forbid any such amendment. The Indian community
in the Colony had its own leadership to protect its interests. Gandhi gave
them a helping hand by frequently writing about the Cape affairs in the Indian
Opinion.

The Indians in Natal had expected that after the war all their troubles
would end. The administration, on the other hand, was under severe pressure
of the white public opinion around 1 902 to stop somehow the rapid increase
in the number of Indian settlers in the Colony. Time had come when the
special tax of £3 per year on the labourers, choosing to remain in Natal on
expiry of their indenture, should start having its effect. There was no end to
the Natal Government's despair when it found that as a result of the aforesaid
levy, during the period under scrutiny not more than 20 percent of the labourers
had re-indentured, with only 11 percent having returned to India. It
became. evident that imposition of the residence tax, whatever its financial
burden on the labourers, was not going to dissuade them from permanent
settlement in Natal. Moreover, the young new elite amongst the offspring of
indentured or ex-indentured labourers, because of their increasing number,
had become a visible threat to the easy availability of employment opportunities
to the poor among whites. These are the circumstances that pushed the
Government towards making the terms of Indian immigration and residence
more stringent. The most important step taken was an amendment of the
Indian Immigration Act which brought the wards of indentured labourers within
the purview of the £3 annual residence tax on attainment of majority. The
Home Government did not object to this legislation on the ground that it had
merely extended the application of the principle on which the earlier Act 1 7 of
1895 was based. The indentured Indians were thus rewarded for their
services in the Boer War with fetters for their upcoming generation.

The ministry was not disposed to be content with this measure
even while it was being pushed through the legislature. Stricken by the
fact that the white settlers were feeling absolutely alarmed about the
problem referred to above, the Government of Natal felt anxious to find a
more satisfactory solution. It, therefore, sent in January 1 903 a commission
to Calcutta to review the existing understandings with the Indian Government
about the terms of indenture.* Initially, the commission was allowed
a bit of easy ground to tread on. Soon enough the authorities in Calcutta
became more cautious. In the negotiations and correspondence that
followed, both the sides were out for a hard bargain. If India was willing to

The main objective set out for the delegates was to secure some fool-proof method of
ensuring compulsory repatriation of the labourers after they had finished their indentured
service. This time, however, the Government of India headed by Lord Curzon was not so
obliging as it was when a similar delegation had visited India in 1894 during Lord Elgin's
vice royalty.

A NEW CHALLENGE

195

give away something, it demanded concessions which Natal was not
inclined to make. One thing to which the Government of India now
attached great importance was the claim of traders, deprived of licenses
by the local bodies, for a right of appeal to the Supreme Court. The dead
end was reached when it became clear that Natal could not secure an
arrangement which would virtually amount to compulsory repatriation of
sponsored immigrants on expiry of their indenture without bending to
the Indian Government's wishes on the licensing issue. The Natal
Government declared that it was not going to pay this price. At one
stage Lord Curzon had given an impression that if the existing state of
affairs open to the most serious objection was not rectified, the
indentured emigration might be discontinued. This threat, however, was
not meant to be put into effect in a hurry.

On the whole Gandhi was happy over the strength of will and firmness
of purpose displayed by Lord Curzon in his approach towards this matter.*
He was, however, quite unequivocal in his denunciation of any move to
secure better treatment for free Indians in the Colony at the expense of
indentured or ex-indentured labourers. In the Indian Opinion of September
1 7, 1 903, he wrote: 'We have ... no hesitation in saying that an Indian with
any humane feelings, and any sense of common ties and common blood,
would simply decline to have his position bettered at the price which may
be asked by the Natal Government.'

The situation that had arisen was not conducive to fresh recruitment
at a rate commensurate with the rapidly increasing demand for labour in
the Colony. Turning a blind eye even to self-interest, the Natal Government
went on making things more difficult. Whatever be the precise reasons, the
incidence of suicide among indentured Indians was distressingly high.
Gandhi highlighted this fact to the chagrin of the Secretary of State for
Colonies who found it irksome to explain it in the House of Commons.

» Even as a triangular pow-wow between London, Maritzburg and
Calcutta was going on, the policy followed by the new rulers of the Transvaal
was gaining acceptance by some of the influential sections of white
population in Natal as well. The foremost among them was the Mayor of
Durban who, with the full assent of the Town Council, wrote to the Prime
Minister of Natal that the Government should urgently introduce a
legislation, on lines somewhat similar to the laws prevalent in the Transvaal,
to safeguard the health and trade interests of the white colonists. Thus the

* The zeal with which Lord Curzon had gone into the difficult situation the Indian community
of South Africa was placed in can be judged from the fact that he did not miss this
opportunity for bringing pressure on Whitehall to have the grievances of the Transvaal
Indians reme-died. About Natal and the Transvaal, he wrote to the Secretary of State for
India. two separate letters, both dated May 14,1903 and each one equally comprehensive.
In the letter pertaining to the Transvaal, while putting forward certain specific proposals, he
had pointed-ly referred to the bitterness with which Indians resented the treatment meted
out to their fellow-countrymen over there. (National Archives of India, Department of
Revenue and Agriculture, Emigration Branch, 'A' Pros. 40-6 and 36-9).

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

spectre of exclusive bazaars and locations for the Indians in Natal was
already before their eyes.

The barricade for checking immigration of free Indians into Natal
was further raised by the passage of Act 30 of 1903. According to the
earlier law an immigrant was expected to fill up a simple form in the
letters of a European language. Now he was required to write a full-fledged
application to the satisfaction of officers whose business it was to raise
as many difficulties as possible.

The long series of disappointments that the Indian community had
faced both in Natal and the Transvaal notwithstanding, theAnglo-Boer War
had in some respects been a turning-point in British Indian politics in the two
colonies. The war crisis had, as it were, produced out of nowhere a new
strength which the same old inert social structures displayed in seeing through
certain urgent tasks. The relief measures organized by the Natal Congress
to provide for indigent sections of the T ransvaal population who had to take
refuge in Natal reflected the Indian commercial elite's capacity for patriotic
action suddenly transcending their own selfish interests. The spirit of sacrifice
demonstrated by some of the ex-indentured families who, setting aside their
own economic interest, spared their bread-earners, even though engaged in
lucrative vocations, to serve in the Ambulance Corps in response to the call
given by Gandhi, indicated the value they placed on the common good of the
community. The initiative taken by the leading Gujarati merchants to call
back Gandhi from India when they learnt about Joseph Chamberlain's
proposed visit to South Africa was a completely new sign of alertness on
their part. The seriousness and vigour with which the entire community
approached the problem connected with the Indian refugees' return to the
Transvaal and their resettlement and the onslaught of plague in the
Johannesburg location can in retrospect be seen as early signals of the
impending Indian political upsurge.

Taking South Africa as a whole, so long as Lord Milner was at the
helm, there was no question of any change in the policy relating to Asiatic
communities. The total scene at the time of his departure from the
subcontinent in April 1905 was dark and dreary. Gandhi, however, was not
disheartened. He held fast to his faith in the ultimate triumph of truth and
justice. He was clear in his mind that during the next few years the T ransvaal
was to be the principal front on which he should concentrate all his energies.
If its old anti-Indian legislation, which was far more offensive, was allowed to
gain acceptance it might become a model to be emulated by its neighbours.
Gandhi wanted the Indian community to spare no effort in facing this challenge.

PHOENIX

Gandhi had settled down to a new pattern of life in Johannesburg. He
was at this time going through a major change in his general outlook and way
of thinking. He had again come in contact with a group of theosophists.
Besides having philosophic discussions with them, he made a more careful
study of the Bhagavad Gita along with some of Vivekananda's writings. The
virtues of non-possession (aparigraha) and equipoise ( samabhava ) enjoined
in the Gita gradually emerged as two nodal points of his personal ethics. The
first one brought him the realisation that anyone striving for salvation should
hold whatever he had in a spirit of trusteeship instead of possession. The
second one revealed to him the value of doing one's duty without the desire
for fruit. From these two principles Gandhi gained a deep sense of detachment.
!n some measure it was already there in his mental make-up but now it
became a prominent feature of his personality. One form of its expression
was a changed attitude towards his family. For example, he allowed the
insurance policy taken at Bombay to lapse, (p.1 77) The thoughts that crossed
his mind before he decided to take this step: In getting his life insured he had
robbed his wife and children of their self-reliance. Why should they not be
expected to take care of themselves? What happened to the families of
the numberless poor in the world? Why should he not count himself as
one of them? He came to the conclusion that these things had ultimately
to be left in the hands of God.

Gandhi had come to look at the Bhagavad Gita as his spiritual
lexicon. Whenever he was assailed by any doubts he would turn to this
'infallible guide of conduct.' Every morning while brushing his teeth he
would have on the wall before him slips of paper with verses from the
holy book written on them. In this way he memorised practically the
whole of the Gita . Further, he tried to put into practice the principles of
karma yoga. Far from turning into a recluse, he was becoming more a
man of action. In this process, Gandhi had gained a rare personal charm
which like-minded individuals coming in contact with him found
irresistible. Louis Walter Ritch, himself a theosophist, chose to give up
his lucrative commercial career to join Gandhi as an articled clerk in
1903. This was a measure of the sentiment that bound them together.
Walter Ritch's assistance provided Gandhi considerable relief as far as
the burden of his professional work was concerned.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Another person who felt drawn to Gandhi was Albert West. Coming
from a peasant family of Lincolnshire with no more than ordinary school
education, he was engaged in running a printing press with a European
partner. He met Gandhi in a vegetarian restaurant at Johannesburg where
the latter used to go for his meals. Before long they were good friends
and looked forward to each other's company for a walk after dinner every
evening. West was then about 24, ten years younger than Gandhi. That
the latter was so senior in age did not make him less jovial. The young
European as well as Indian friends would join Gandhi often during the
weekends and go for picnics in the countryside or for bathing at the
Rosharville lake.

When plague broke out in the Indian location in early 1 904 and Gandhi
stopped going to the restaurant, Albert West felt disturbed and called on him.
It was about 6 o'clock in the morning when he reached Gandhi's
dwelling. With a voice full of trepidation mingled with joy, he said: 'I'm so glad
to see you. Not finding you at the restaurant, I was rather worried.
Do tell me if I can be of some help.'

'You'll nurse the patients, I hope,' Gandhi said with a faint smile
on his face.

'Of course, I will.'

Gandhi was not surprised at what West had said, but he had no
intention of involving him in this work. Madanjit having been detained at
Johannesburg for plague duty, there was no one at Durban to look after the
weekly and the printing press. Gandhi asked him if he could go there and
take charge of the establishment. He was in no position to make an offer that
could be attractive. Ten pounds a month and half the profits, if any, was all
that he could afford to pay. Albert West was not able to give an immediate
reply. What he was to receive as remuneration was no problem. What bothered
him was: how his partner at Johannesburg would react. Anyhow, by the evening
he obtained the. consent of his business associate and confirmed to Gandhi
that he would gladly undertake the responsibility he had talked of. The very
next day Albert West was on his way to Durban. This was the beginning of a
lasting relationship between Gandhi and one of the most God-fearing and
humane Englishmen he had come across. Reminiscing about this drama
later, Gandhi wrote touchingly: 'From that day until the time I left the shores
of South Africa, he remained a partner in my joys and sorrows.'

***

Gandhi was already well known in Johannesburg. The part played
by him concerning the plague epidemic had further enhanced his prestige.
One evening when he was in the vegetarian restaurant for his supper, a
stockily-built bright young man at a table away from the one occupied by
Gandhi sent across his card, expressing a desire to meet him. The latter
invited him to come over to his table. So H.S.L. Polak, an English Jew

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199

from Dover, approached Gandhi with a gentle bow and introduced himself: 'I
am sub-editor of The Critic. When I read your letter to the Press about the
plague, I felt a strong ‘desire to see you. I'm glad to have this opportunity."
The conversation that followed revealed much in common between them
besides their vegetarianism, simple life and interest in nature-cure. They
felt friendly towards each other in no time. 'What Gandhi particularly liked
about Polak, still in his early twenties,' was his passion for putting right
whatever he thought was wrong with the world around him. He was ever
prepared to work for a good cause.

Meeting frequently, they were on cordial terms within a few weeks.
There was hardly anything of interest to them that they did not discuss. They
would not hesitate to point out anything odd that they noticed in each other.
Gandhi had one mannerism: when searching for the appropriate expression
for his thoughts, he would swiftly breathe in and produce a brief hissing
sound. Polak very politely pointed it out to him and explained how awkward it
looked. The latter felt sincerely thankful, made an earnest effort to correct
himself and succeeded in overcoming the fault within a few days.

It was in Gandhi's nature not to disbelieve a person even when there
was need for caution. This weakness had led him into recklessly advancing
credit to both the vegetarian restaurants where he used to go for his meals.
One of the establishments was owned by an enterprising European lady.
Being a theosophist, she had easy access to Gandhi's confidence and
obtained from him a loan of £1,000 that he gave from a fund held by him on
behalf of an Indian client. She used this credit for opening a larger restaurant.
Her new venture proved a failure and she never repaid the loan. Gandhi had to
make up this loss by drawing on his savings. Thus he had to pay a heavy
price for being overtrustful.

A similar unquestioning faith had also resulted in much confusion in
the commercial management of the Indian Opinion. Madanjit Vyavaharak
was a perfect gentleman. He was honest and hard-working, but he could not
cope with the complex task of running a weekly journal. When Albert West
took charge of it, he found everything in a state of chaos. The accounts were
not properly maintained. There were heavy arrears in the recovery of dues
and payment of debts. While trying to rectify matters, he made it known to
Gandhi that he had a very difficult task on hand.

In October 1904, when Madanjit was to leave for India, Gandhi
decided to take a trip to Durban to sort out some issues that needed his
personal attention. One important change to be effected was the formal
transfer of ownership of Indian Opinion and its assets to Gandhi in repayment
of the loans Madanjit had taken from him. The day he was to undertake
the journey, Henry Polak came to the railway station to see him off. He had

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

just gone through Ruskin's Unto This Last. He thought that Gandhi would
surely like it and, therefore, gave it to him so that he could read it on his long
journey. Once Gandhi began it, he felt so absorbed that he could just not lay
it aside. He found some of his own convictions reflected in Ruskin's book.
But a part of its message was completely new to him. It was a bold challenge
against the prevalent thinking on the subject of political economy. Ruskin
had emphatically expressed his dissatisfaction with the utilitarian concepts
taking no account of the spirit that dwells in every human being and the
invisible wealth of social affection that does not diminish by giving away. For
him the primary thing was LIFE, not WEALTH. In the economic system he
had envisioned, the accent was to be on production and distribution of goods
and services in a way that would promote welfare of the community as a
whole. In effect he demanded that the rich, instead of piling up more and
more lucre must try to understand the laws of human advancement. He wanted
them to abandon expediency and adopt the path of justice. In his argument
for giving ethics its rightful place in the field of commerce or industry and thus
enhancing its moral prestige, he recalled what was commonly accepted among
soldiers, pastors, physicians and lawyers. The point he made was that in all
these professions the material reward or remuneration obtainable was meant
to be viewed only as a necessary adjunct. What really mattered was the
element of sacrifice for which the persons engaged in these services should
always be prepared. When the occasion demanded, the soldier would see
himself killed rather than leave his post in battle and the physician would
rather risk his life than abandon his patients afflicted with a deadly infectious
disease. So would the pastor face any hazard rather than teach falsehood
and the lawyer suffer to any extent than countenance injustice. Then, why
not so as far as merchants and industrialists were concerned? No one
could have understood this reasoning better than a person of Gandhi's bent
of mind. He himself had practised law precisely in the spirit that Ruskin had
alluded to. Without being a physician, he had put his life to risk while
helping his countrymen affected by or exposed to the pneumonic plague
epidemic in Johannesburg.

Although Unto This > Last, a collection of three beautiful essays, was
in the nature of a critique on the economic laws enunciated by John Stuart
Mill, both in thought and composition the book had certain characteristically
poetic qualities. At the very first reading, Ruskin's ideas had gone straight
to Gandhi's heart and he had been moved to the depths of his being. The
moral and human aspect of economic and social problems was to be his
life-long concern. Opinions can vary as to what else Gandhi directly
imbibed from this book. What is quite definite is the metamorphosis it
had caused in his inner self that, once stirred, threw up several truths
which lay dormant in his mind. He became more deeply conscious of
identicalness of the individual's good and that of the community. He began
to look more keenly at the social value of the work done by people, no
matter whether it involved manual effort or use of intellect. It also dawned

PHOENIX

201

on him what an extraordinary joy one could derive from the life of physical
labour as a tiller of land or as an artisan.

As these thoughts whizzed through Gandhi's mind and mingled with
all that he had absorbed earlier from Tolstoy's writings, there arose in him an
irresistible desire to have a small settlement in the nature of a commune
where he should live with his family and associates like village folk. Determined
to translate this fantasy into reality, on reaching Durban he discussed the
matter with Albert West. One concrete part of his plan was to shift the printing
press to the proposed farm where its workers would grow their own food and
look after the work connected with the weekly journal in their spare time for
which they would draw a monthly allowance of £ 3 each. So strong were the
ties of affection binding the two that West agreed without a moment's hesitation
to go along with Gandhi in this quixotic-sounding venture.

Within a few days Gandhi had advertised for a piece of land. The
outcome was purchase of two adjoining plots, 1 00 acres in all for £1 ,000, at
Phoenix, about fourteen miles from Durban. The site was rich in scenic beauty,
exposed to winds sweeping across the adjoining hills and free from dust,
smoke or noise. The area already under plough was very small. The remaining
land also had the advantage of fertile black soil except a few small patches of
rock jutting out. The two attractive features were a mini-orchard and a perennial
spring. The place, however, was infested with snakes, some fruit trees having
green serpents often hanging from the branches. Gandhi did not attach much
importance to this problem. According to him, if the wild grass was cleared
and proper precautions taken, there was nothing to fear. He considered the
snakes harmless creatures, if left undisturbed.

Gandhi’s nephew Chhaganial who had arrived from India a few months
earlier, had by this time began to play an important role in the production and
circulation of Indian Opinion and was already Albert West’s right-hand man.
After he had overcome the initial hesitation, his enthusiasm for shifting of the
press and the journal to Phoenix was no less than that of his chief. Both of
them had to work very hard during the period of transfer. The first requirement
was that of accommodation. Gandhi's friend Rustomji was good enough to
provide some building material including second-hand corrugated iron sheets
for raising a shed. A few Indian carpenters and masons who had been with
Gandhi during the Boer War gave a helping hand in the erection work. The
structure with a floor area of about 3,700 square feet was ready within four
weeks. It took another week to move the entire equipment to Phoenix. For
one issue of the paper, the help of another press had to be taken. The next
number did issue from Phoenix and that too right in time. To achieve it, the
whole team had to put in extraordinary effort.

Gandhi wanted to create an environment in which the inmates of the
farm, leading a simple and natural life, could combine the precepts of Ruskin
and Tolstoy with matter-of-fact business principles. The land around the press
complex was divided into plots of about two acres each for the settlers to make
a living by farming and other manual work. Small huts of corrugated iron sheets

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

with wooden supports were improvised to house those who had joined the
scheme. The one earmarked for Gandhi was larger. The sanitary arrangements
were no doubt primitive, each householder having to empty the nightsoil-
bucket at the point specially dug up for this purpose.*

Gandhi had intended to make this spot his permanent abode. But how
could he sever himself from the work at Johannesburg? What he could do
was to come periodically to Phoenix, dwell in the lap of nature and be revitalised
with nourishment for the spirit. Even in his absence, life at Phoenix went on
according to his grand design. A neat little colony, it embodied in its
community life high standards of purity and selflessness. Albert West and
others, who volunteered for this life of self-denial, gladly surrendered the normal
emoluments they were drawing and started living on a wage of £3 a month.
Herbert Kitchin, one of Gandhi's theosophist friends, was also drawn to this
place. He gave up his lucrative profession as an electrical contractor, came
over there, joined the Indian Opinion team and edited its English section, for
which he received the monthly allowance of £3. There were, no doubt,
some amongst the old workers who retained their previous salaries. Even
Mansukhlal Naazar, the chief editor, did not join the Phoenix scheme and
continued to look after his work from the branch office at Durban.

After some time Chhaganlal's younger brother, Maganlal, gave up his
business, joined the charmed circle and became one of its most devoted
members. He did a variety of jobs, from composing for the printing press
to carpentry. He had keen interest in gardening too.

Later, Henry Polak, who was thrilled by what had happened because
of his copy of Ruskin's Unto This Last going into Gandhi's hands, asked his
friend if he could join the settlement. On getting his consent, he resigned
from The Critic, moved out to Phoenix and took to its community life with
great elan. After a brief stay at the farm, he had to return to Johannesburg at
Gandhi's request to join him as an articled clerk after L.W. Ritch had decided
to leave for England to study for the Bar.

Gandhi's extended family at Phoenix comprised a couple of
Englishmen, some Tamil and Hindi-speaking people, one or two Zulus
and a few Gujaratis including some of his own relations who had followed
him from India. When Gandhi's eldest son Harilal came to South Africa in
1906, he felt attracted to Phoenix. Gokuldas, the only son of Gandhi's
widowed sister, also came to live there. The place had assumed the
character of a religious settlement but Gandhi did not want it to be called
an ashram or a math. Its inmates had so much to do that there was no
question of their turning into cloistered hermits.

At this time Gandhi's law practice in Johannesburg was at its peak.
Despite his rigid professional ethics, he managed to earn something like

* John L. Dube, a highly educated Zulu, also had a rural commune quite close to Phoenix.
Besides running a school in this settlement for the blacks, he provided facilities for training in
various trades and crafts. Gandhi had referred to Dube's activities in his brief write-up under
the title The Kaffirs of Natal' which appeared in Indian Opinion of September 2, 1905
CWMG, Vol. V, p. 55.

PHOENIX

203

£350 a month. With a regular income of this order, he did not have to worry
because of money. The course his political work had taken left him with no
hope of being able to return to India in the near future. Early in 1905, Kasturba
and the three younger sons had joined Gandhi at Johannesburg. Gandhi had
by then moved to a spacious two-storeyed house, in a decent locality away
from the inner city, with a small garden and a lawn in front. Three other
persons including Henry Polak also lived under the same roof. The latter was
already engaged to marry Millie Graham who was still in England. Polak had
been putting off the wedding date on the ground that he did not yet fee!
comfortably settled. Gandhi argued with him that there was no point in
postponing marriage on this account: ’If poverty is a bar, poor men can never
marry. And then you are now staying with me. There is no question of household
expenses...' After Polak had come round there was hesitation on his father's
part because of the girl's delicate health. Gandhi wrote to him, reassuring
that she would feel fine in South Africa's bracing climate. To Miss Graham,
he had written: 'I am looking forward to your arrival here and joining the busy
hive we have in Troyeville. I think, by this time, I know enough of you, from
what Mr. Polak has enabled me to see and I have not the slightest doubt that
we shall get on well together, and that you will be a most valuable acquisition
to the family where each one thinks of duty and insists on doing it [and] there
is no room left for differences because there are no rival rights.' Thanks to
Gandhi's insistence, Millie Graham soon undertook the voyage to South Africa
and was in Johannesburg on December 30, 1905. The same day she and
Henry were united in holy wedlock. Polak was a Jew, his wife a Christian.
Gandhi had made them members of a Hindu family. The house was now full
to its capacity. Soon Mrs. Polak became Kasturba's close companion, the
initial language problem notwithstanding. Within a few months that barrier
also wore off. Millie Polak was glad to give Manilal and his two younger
brothers coaching in English and Arithmetic.

Gradually the austere and simple life which was the accepted
code at Phoenix began to have its effect on Gandhi's household at
Johannesburg. Introduction of hand-milling of grain at home was the first
step in that direction. Every morning the male members devoted half an
hour to this task. Manual work in one form or the other apart, Gandhi
was keen on regular physical exercise. A bit of gymnastics, or at least
simple skipping, was compulsory for all. As for himself, he would
supplement it with plenty of walking plus cycling, which he found a
convenient mode of transport to his office, a good six miles from the
residence. Thus physical fitness, as an essential condition of spiritual
well-being was ensured in every possible manner. The day ended with
the recitation of hymns from the Bhagavad Gita.

Gandhi was still fond of good food, but he had perforce to curb the
demands of his palate. The same rigour applied to his interest in elegant
clothing. Slowly all the material needs were sliding down on his scale of
values. But he had not yet reached the stage of thinking in terms of

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

complete celibacy for spiritual advancement. In fact he wanted his friends to
marry and lead a normal kind of family life. After Polak's marriage, it was the
turn of Albert West to be coaxed by Gandhi to follow a similar course. The
latter undertook a trip to England and returned with his wife and mother-in-
law. This meant further addition to the number of Gandhi's disciples.

Gandhi's Johannesburg office and the Phoenix Farm had one thing in
common, that is, his fatherly affection for all those associated with him. The
four Indian clerks working with him were overwhelmed by the care he bestowed
on them, so much so that with the workload increasing they all put in long
hours ungrudgingly. But none of them was a good typist. On that account
Gandhi had to do most of his typewriting himself. However, at a certain stage
assistance became absolutely necessary, but it was not possible to obtain
permit for another Indian to come in, nor was it easy to find a European to
serve an Indian barrister. Gandhi considered himself lucky when Miss Dick, a
girl who had just come from Scotland, agreed to work for him as a steno-
typist on a monthly salary of £1 7/10. It was an excellent arrangement so long
as it lasted . Gandhi could entrust most of the general work to her. She for her
part would consult Gandhi about personal problems as if he were an elder
brother. He was happy to assume the role of a guardian at her marriage, after
which she had to give up her job with Gandhi. Yet, whenever the former
employer needed her help she gave it very gladly.

In every sense, Gandhi had at this time an exquisite, well-set life. He
was comfortably established in his profession. He was an acknowledged
public figure too. For the Utopian in him, Phoenix was a dream come true. It
embodied his dearest ideals inspired by Tolstoy and Ruskin. Even Kasturba
had reason to be happy with everything around her. The whole scene, as far
as Gandhi's personal life was concerned, was too tranquil to contain his
restless spirit for long.

IN UNIFORM AGAIN

Lord Selborne had taken Milner's place in April 1905. The latter had
left behind Lionel Curtis, a leading member of the hand-picked galaxy of
civil servants, collectively nicknamed Milner's Kindergarten. At this time,
Curtis was an Assistant Colonial Secretary in the Transvaal administrative
hierarchy. Later he became Head of the Asiatic Department. Whatever
office he held, his views on the Asiatic problem received the most careful
attention from those in authority. The very first time Gandhi met him he
had tried to explain how industrious, frugal and patient his countrymen
were. The reply he received was disarmingly simple: 'Mr. Gandhi, you are
preaching to the converted. It is not the vices of Indians that Europeans in
this country fear but their virtues.'

Assisted by Curtis, Lord Selborne gradually laid out the policy he
was to pursue. The central point on which it rested was: if the white settlers
in the T ransvaal could feel assured that there would be no further influx of
Asians it should be possible to find a satisfactory solution to the problem
of those who were already residing there. He sincerely believed that the
only major profession that could draw British immigrants was trade and in
this field it was difficult for them to compete with the Asians. It was,
therefore, necessary to discourage the immigration of the latter if the
country was to be protected from Boer domination which would be
inevitable if the Britons did not find it attractive to come in. It was left to
Lionel Curtis to prepare a framework for translating these ideas into concrete
action. On the basis of his proposals, Lord Selborne sent on May 21,
1 906 a dispatch to the Secretary of State for Colonies, enclosing two draft
ordinances. One of them sought to amend the Peace Preservation
Ordinance to regulate properly th6 entry of those coming on the authority
of temporary visitors' permits. It was found necessary because, according
to the Attorney-General, holders of permits, without a legally valid
forbiddance, could manage to stay on in the Transvaal. The aim was to
eliminate this loophole that some people, it was thought, were taking
advantage of. The second ordinance aimed at an amendment of Law 3 of
1885 whereby all Indians in the Transvaal would be obliged to go
through registration again. Its purpose was to ensure that there was no
scope left for unlawful infiltration. The Government was aware that voluntary
re-registration had already taken place (p. 1 91 ) after a negotiated
settlement between Milner and Gandhi and any further attempt at fresh

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

registration would be resented by the Indian community. A provision had,
however, been made for abolition of the £3 residence tax to serve as a sugar-
coating of the bitter pill.

Lionel Curtis was clear in his mind that final settlement of the
Asiatic question should await the grant of responsible Government.
Meanwhile, the two ordinances sent to the Colonial Office would provide
a check against the influx of unauthorized Indians into the Colony. In
October 1905, Lord Selborne had stated in a speech at Potchefstroorn:
'No Indians who were not here before the war will be admitted into the
country till you have your own parliament, and through your
representatives you can express your own opinion. I give you that
assurance as your Governor and your High Commissioner.'

Gandhi, more than anyone else, was aware that, as long as the
Transvaal was under crown control, the Asian immigrants had some
semblance of protection by the Colonial Office. After the grant of self-
government to the Colony they would be at the mercy of local authorities
with little chance of justice being done to them. He was, therefore, eager
to seek redress of the Indian community's grievances before any
constitutional change took place. He also wanted some safeguards to be
built into the constitution as and when it was framed. These considerations
formed the basis of a representation made to Lord Selborne in November
1905 and a memorandum presented by the Indian community to the
Constitution Committee in May 1 906.

The course of things in the Orange River Colony was as chilling as in
the Transvaal. The Government continued to issue ordinances prejudicial to
the interests of all coloured persons, a term that included British Indians. The
protests made on their behalf to Lord Selborne were of no use. The High
Commissioner, polite to the utmost, was not prepared to extend any concrete
help to the Indians.

What drove the Indian community in South Africa to despair was
the state of affairs in the self-governing Cape Colony. The Cape
Immigration Restriction Act of 1 902 had been an eyesore since the time
of its passage. The British Indians had reason to believe that in due
course an amendment of the law would recognize the principal Indian
languages for educational test and allow some other relaxations. When
the much-awaited amendment did materialize in May 1906, instead of
making things easier, it brought in further restrictions indirectly affecting
the entry of Indians into the Colony. The undertaking given by the Cape
Government to provide parity between Asians and Europeans regarding
exemption from the educational test in exceptional cases had also been
evaded. Its attitude was no better when it came to the law for regulation
of licensing for trade. The applicants for new licenses were denied the
option of appeal to the highest judicial authority. Gandhi felt dismayed
over the fact that his countrymen in the Cape had not strongly raised
their voice against continued erosion of their rights.

IN UNIFORM AGAIN

207

In Natal too, the law-makers were determined not to let Indians live in
the Colony with honour. They could not tolerate a large number of
indentured labourers and their grown-up wards choosing to settle down
permanently in Natal in spite of the heavy residence tax of £3 a year. To
make it more difficult, the legislature passed a law in 1905 prohibiting
employers from taking such persons in service unless they had already
paid the levy for that year, and laying down penalties for disregard of
this prescription. Thus, the Government did not allow a man to work and
pay. He must first pay and then work.

The small Indian retailers were hit hard by the innocuous-looking
Shops (Early Closing) Act of 1905 that prevented them from transacting
business in the late hours of the evening after the large retail houses had
closed. A popular newspaper insidiously advised the Europeans not to agitate
against this law. Gandhi's own comment was: 'In its haste to see the Indian
injured, The [Natal] Witness has entirely forgotten that, in injuring the Indian,
the small white traders, who alone can feel the competition of Indian traders,
will not only be injured, but will be wiped out entirely, for while the frugal
habits of the Indian may enable him to tide over the difficulty, the white petty
traders, who notoriously fail to save, will be entirely helpless.'

The Natal Government's anti-Indian policy reached its high-water mark
in the Municipal Laws Consolidation Bill of 1905 which, apart from many
other objectionable features, contained a provision that would have virtually
disfranchised Indians even at the municipal level. This new attack on the
rights of Natal Indians led to another memorial to the Secretary of State for
India. Because of this representation the issue got linked with
the larger problem of Indian trading licenses.

***

In all parts of South Africa the Indian community stood with its
back to the wall. It had found in Gandhi a spokesman whose ability and
spirit of sacrifice were acknowledged by everyone. The champion of its
cause had by this time become conscious of the fact that the Asiatic
problem extended beyond matters concerning the Indian settlers. For
example, the Chinese miners in the Transvaal were also treated savagely.
Gandhi, keenly aware of the state of servitude to which they had been
reduced, wrote about it in the Indian Opinion. He was equally conscious
of the sub-human condition of the blacks, particularly in Natal, because of
the local Government's land and labour policies. When they rose in revolt
against the newly imposed poll-tax in early 1 906, leading to the death of
two police officers, Martial Law was proclaimed and a reign of terror was
unleashed by the Natal militia in the affected area. Among those
condemned to death, twelve were blown up by canon fire. This early phase
was followed by more startling events when Bambata, one of the chiefs
deposed by the British, rose in revolt. The strategy he followed was to
withdraw across the Tugela river into Zululand where several thousand

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Africans rallied to his side. The Government troops trying to track him
down had suffered further casualties. The persons killed this time belonged
to the very contingent that had gunned down the dozen blacks. Gandhi's
immediate comment was: 'Such is the law of God. The executioners met
their death within two days.' The ultimate result, however, was a trail of
increasingly brutal reprisals by the Government.

Despite his deep human sympathy for the victims of repression whoever
they were, Gandhi confined himself to the limited task of looking after the
Indian community's interests. In pursuit of this aim he had on no occasion,
except at the conceptual level, gone beyond political action within the orbit of
constitutional norms. He had been employing persuasion and pressure of
public opinion with considerable skill to remove certain misconceptions among
the white colonists and their law-makers about the Indian immigrants. He
had striven towards this end long enough and yet he could not claim that he
had achieved much success. He was, in fact, carrying some vague discontent
under his skin.

Thus Gandhi was in the grip of severe tension at the time of the Zulu
rebellion referred to above. Even in this state of mind he could not resist his
anxiety to prove the Indian community's loyalty to the British empire. During
one of his visits to Phoenix towards the end of April 1906, the Natal Indian
Congress at his suggestion seriously considered the question of offering to
the Government its assistance in dealing with the Zulu problem. The Indians,
themselves labouring under all kinds of injustice, could not have been too
enthusiastic about it. Opinions differed as to the cause of the native revolt.
Gandhi had his own doubts. But he remained firm in his view that, as long as
Indians claimed rights of citizenship from the Government of Natal, they were
obliged to help it at times of crisis. After initial hesitation, the other members
also came round to his line of thinking. The result: the Congress sent an offer
of whatever little help it could render to the Government in this emergency.
Gandhi felt happy when this offer was accepted by the authorities and the
Congress was asked to raise a squad of twenty stretcher-bearers. Gandhi
himself was given the rank of Sergeant Major with three Sergeants and one
Corporal to assist him.

So, he was in uniform again. He took up the task assigned to him with
total dedication. He had already wound up his household at Johannesburg
and had moved his wife and children to Phoenix. His law office, however,
continued to function in his absence.

Gandhi had no difficulty in getting the requisite number of volunteers
to join his unit of stretcher-bearers. He knew that twenty Indians going
to the front for field service, confined to the work of transporting the wounded,
was no more than a symbolic gesture. It became a little more significant
because the expense by way of salaries payable to the volunteers was
met by the Natal Indian Congress, the Government providing only uniforms
and rations. What Gandhi considered important was the principle
behind his countrymen undertaking the duties devolving on them as

IN UNIFORM AGAIN

209

citizens. He was in favour of Indians joining even the fighting force and
acquiring a permanent role in the militia so that there was no scope left for
Europeans to feel that they alone bore the brunt of colonial defence.

What particularly attracted him then to field service was the opportunity
it offered for acquiring discipline and orderliness. His reasoning: ’A man
going to the battle-front has to train himself to endure severe hardships. He is
obliged to cultivate the habit of living in comradeship with large numbers of
men. He easily learns to make do with simple food. He is required to keep
regular hours. He forms the habit of obeying his superiors' orders promptly
and without argument. He also learns to discipline the movement of his limbs
... Instances are known of unruly and wayward men who went to the front and
returned reformed and able fully to control both their mind and body.'

The Indian stretcher-bearers' squad was already on active service in
the third week of June 1 906. Besides its normal work, it was allotted certain
miscellaneous duties including that of attending to routine ailments and cases
of minor injuries. For this purpose it was provided some basic medicines and
first-aid equipment. The training Gandhi had received in Dr. Booth's hospital
(p.163) came in handy. So he could compound and dispense prescriptions
for the white soldiers too.

Long route marches, blistered feet, cold nights in the open and
occasional-danger of unarmed volunteers being ambushed by the rebels,
were some of the things that could have been anticipated. What surprised
Gandhi was the absence of any serious fighting between the two sides.
The Natal Government, out to teach the defiant Zulus a lesson, perpetrated
on them the most hideous atrocities. More than three thousand rebels

were killed during these operations with very few casualties on the
Government side. Later, Gandhi wrote about it: 'This was no war but a
manhunt, not only in my opinion, but also in that of many Englishmen
with whom I had occasion to talk. To hear every morning reports of the
soldiers' rifles exploding like crackers in innocent hamlets, and to live in
the midst of them was a trial.' Having seen all that was happening, Gandhi
came to doubt, though rather late in the day, whether it was right on his
part to help the Government in this wretched task.

The Zulus who had been taken prisoners were punished with merciless
flogging, causing them severe sores. The officer-in-charge of ambulance work,
Dr. Savage, happened to be a kind and God-fearing person. Gandhi and his
men had a shred of comfort when they were asked to nurse the festering
wounds of the tortured Zulus. The latter felt grateful to the Indians for the
warmth with which they looked after them. This kindliness on their part was,
of course, resented by the white soldiers.

Gandhi was on field duty for about a month. During this period he
wrote two despatches that were published in the Indian Opinion as a
contribution from its special correspondent in the disturbed area. His sympathies
were no doubt with the Zulus. Subject as he was to military discipline,
he could not have spoken out his mind. One thing that impressed him in

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

favour of his white senior colleagues was their cordial behaviour towards
the Indians. He found that in the operational area there was no distinction
based on colour between the troopers and members of the Indian squad.
When the latter returned to Durban after disembodiment in the third week of
July, the Natal Indian Congress gave it a reception. Speaking on this
occasion, Gandhi again emphasised the need for establishing a larger Indian
regiment on a permanent footing. He felt that if this was done it would
generate a good deal of fellow-feeling and remove much of the white prejudice
against Indians. Renewal of this proposal by Gandhi even after he had seen
with his own eyes to what extent an armed force couid be misused shows
how desperately he was in search of a basis on which Indians could live
there in peace and with dignity. He was ready to pay any price to secure
the salvation of his community.

***

The Zulu rebellion had come Gandhi's way at a time when his entire
thinking had been affected by a fierce inner ferment. A little before he left for
the ambulance service, he had received a note of indictment from his elder
brother Lakshmidas. Gandhi's reply of May 27, 1 906 to that letter reveais the
provocative as well as chastening effect it had had on him. The following
extract conveys the intensity of Gandhi's feelings on this occasion:

... You are prejudiced against me. There is no remedy against
prejudice. I am helpless. I can only reply to your letter in full.

1 . I have no idea of separating from you.

2. I claim nothing there.

3. I do not claim anything as mine.

4. All that I have is being utilized for public purposes.

5. It is available to relations who devote themselves to public
work.

6. I could have satisfied your desire for money if I had not
dedicated my all for public use.

I have never said that I have done much for brothers or other
relations. I gave them all that I could save; and this I have mentioned
not out of pride, and only to friends.

Rest assured that I will cheerfully assume the burden of supporting
the family in case you pass on before me. You need have no fear on
that score.

I am not now in a position to send you money as you desire.

You may repudiate me, but still I will be to you what I have always
been.

I do not remember that I expressed a desire to separate from you
when I was there. But even if I did, my mind is now quite clear,
my aspirations are higher and I have no desire for worldly

IN UNIFORM AGAIN

211

enjoyments of any type whatever.

I am engaged in my present activities as I look upon them as
essential to life. If I have to face death while thus engaged, I shall
face it with equanimity. I am now a stranger to fear.

The letter procliams a marked change in the direction of Gandhi's
life towards pursuit of higher goals. The fact that about this time he
had disrupted his comfortable home at Johannesburg squarely fits
into this picture.

The sight of the horrors which Gandhi witnessed during the period of
his engagement with ambulance work was reason enough for him to ponder
over certain basic problems of human existence. This contemplation
brought him a strong awareness of the fact that if he was to fully devote
himself to the service of humanity and seek his own salvation he must
take the path of brahmacharya (celibacy). Once this idea had taken shape in
Gandhi's mind, there was no getting away from it. On arrival back at Phoenix,
he discussed it with Albert West and other associates. Finally he consulted
Kasturba: she had no objection at all. After some further deliberation he
solemnly took a vow that he would hereafter live as a brahmachari. One
natural addendum to this pledge was the decision taken by him about this
time to 'accept poverty as a constant companion.' Gandhi had taken one
more turn in his journey through life.

All this had not come about suddenly: it was the culmination of a
process that had been at work for long. He already had a deep-felt conviction
that self-sacrifice was the key to success for a person intent on realising any
cherished aim. He wrote in the Indian Opinion of January 21 , 1904: 'Christ
died on the Cross ... and left Christianity as a glorious heritage. Hampden
suffered, but the ship-money went. Joan of Arc was burnt as a witch to her
eternal honour and to the everlasting disgrace of her murderers; the world
knows the result of her self-sacrifice...' Evidently, when Gandhi wrote this, he
had a deep churning within him. It was not just a coincidence that his first
plea for resistance against the Transvaal Government had figured only a week
prior to it in his contribution to the Indian Opinion of January 1 4, 1 904. (p.1 87)
All this should be seen as part of his struggle for simultaneously advancing
on two fronts — selfless service and quest for the ultimate Reality, both
having equal sanctity and reinforcing each other all the way.

When Gandhi pledged himself to brahmacharya, he was only thirty-
seven and, according to the Hindu view of life, he still had many years to go
as a normal householder. In his autobiography he recalled one of his
discussions with Raychandbhai at Bombay as a result of which he began
to wonder how beautiful the relationship between him and his wife would be
if it was not tainted by sex. Tolstoy, too, believed that there was no sin
which involved consequences as frightful as sensuous love. The special
appeal that these thoughts had for Gandhi could at the emotional plane be
a reaction to his early marriage, the consequent drawal into precocious

212

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

sexuality and the deep-rooted revulsion for it he had developed since the
fateful night when his father breathed his last while he himself was in bed with
his wife. His further thinking on the subject grew under the impact of ideals
around which his life had revolved from 1 903 to 1 906, until he finally came to
believe that anyone who did not refrain from sexual indulgence could serve
neither God nor man. It was as much pure reason and intuitive cognition as a
perpetual sense of guilt concerning sex that led Gandhi to this momentous
conclusion.

For some years he had already been leading almost a life of
continence but the 'freedom and joy' that he experienced after donning
the armour of a vow had not been known to him earlier. Once the vow was
taken, brahmacharya for him meant very much more than celibacy: it
implied firm control over all senses and complete purification of the mind.
Basically, it was an irrevocable commitment made by him with his inner
self and with God as to the degree of self-denial he would practise during
the rest of his life. The renunciation and self-discipline which it entailed
enabled him to face all the difficulties he was to be exposed to in his
personal and public life and remain unbeaten by the odds against him. In
this sense, brahmacharya was for him a powerful emancipating force. But
at another level, it was a kind of self-imposed tyranny from which there
was no escape, come what might. He was obsessively experimenting
with food to find for himself a diet which would give him enough nourishment
without fuelling the sexual desire. He resorted to fasting to enhance his
capacity for self-restraint. His entire pattern of life, the kind of work with
which he was engaged, the solicitude with which he sought the grace of
God, were all conducive to keeping him protected from sensuality. The
real problem lay in the anarchic element of suppressed desire beyond the
limits of human capacity for sublimation. A time came, however, when he
saw how difficult it was to live up to the ideal he had set for himself.
Writing about it some twenty years later, he acknowledged that observance
of brahmacharya was nothing less than 'walking on the sword's edge.’ All
his vigilance in the long run could not guard the innermost depths of his
mind against the deadly cutting-edge. Yet it was this moral and spiritual
enterprise which, by lending vitality to his broad humanistic principles,
played an important role in producing his unique pattern of non-violent
political action.

A SOLEMN PLEDGE

Indian settlers all over South Africa had come to fee! that they
were heading for a difficult time. Their position in the Transvaal was
particularly bad. The two draft ordinances relating to British Indians' entry
into the Colony and their registration sent to the Colonial Office in May
1 906 looked ominous. The uncertainty regarding what would be in store
for them under the new constitution had made things more gloomy.
Anxiety on these counts had given rise to the idea of a deputation of
British Indians going to England to make a direct representation to the
Imperial Government and to brief their sympathizers already working for
them so that they could lend more active support. The proposal had to
be put off for some time because of Gandhi's involvement in the Zuiu
campaign. On his return from Natal, the deputation to England again
became a live issue.

About this time, Patrick Duncan stated in the legislative council
affirming the Government's intention to introduce a composite Bill that was to
be in some respects even more repressive than the earlier proposals sent to
the Secretary of State for Colonies. Gandhi immediately wrote to Dadabhai
Naoroji about it, explaining how the proposed legislation was going to
result in 'frightful injustice' to the Indian community.

Gandhi's apprehension came true when the draft Asiatic Law Amend¬
ment Ordinance was gazetted on August 22, 1 906. What passed his mind
when he studied the draft legislation is best described by Gandhi himself:
'I shuddered as I read the sections of the Ordinance one after another. I
saw nothing in it except hatred of Indians. It seemed to me that if the
Ordinance was passed and the Indians meekly accepted it, that would
spell absolute ruin for the Indians in South Africa. I clearly saw that this
was a question of life and death for them ... Better die than submit to
such a law. But how were we to die? What should we dare and do so that
there would be nothing before us except a choice of victory or death? An
impenetrable wall was before me, as it were, and I could not see my way
through it.' The Transvaal Indians had already gone through registration
twice and now the Government sought to subject them to the same
process in a more abominable form. Not only male adults, but females
and minors were also to be registered. The validity of every permit or
registration certificate already held would be challenged. All holders of
such documents would have to appear before the Registrar and satisfy

214

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

him that they lived in the Colony lawfully. Gandhi knew what it meant: they
would be subjected to all kinds of unnecessary and insulting questions. Only
after undergoing a strict cross-examination would they receive fresh certificates.
The new certificates of registration thus obtained would have to be carried by
them whenever they moved out. Any person covered by this law who failed to
register either himself or his children within the given time would be liable, on
conviction, to a fine of £1 00 or, on default, to three months of imprisonment
with hard labour. After the prescribed date, any Asian over sixteen who failed
to produce on demand the registration certificate would be liable to arrest
without a warrant and to expulsion from the Colony. Trading licenses would
not be issued to unregistered persons.

The BIA promptly represented against the proposed measure to the
local Colonial Secretary. Following up this written communication, a delegation
met Patrick Duncan who had to put up with some plain-speaking by the
Indians. He was told that the new law would not be acceptable to the Indian
community under any circumstances. The Colonial Secretary was left in no
doubt by the delegation that if, disregarding its attempts at gentle persuasion,
the Government enforced the Ordinance, Indians would not abide by it, they
would not re-register themselves, nor would they pay fines — they would
rather go to jail. A week later the Association sent cables of protest to the
Secretary of State for Colonies and the Governor-General of India. Gandhi
addressed a meeting of some leading Indians and explained the full
implications of the draft Ordinance. He warned his listeners that if the
Ordinance was passed and if the Transvaal Indians acquiesced in it, it would
be imitated all over South Africa. He went on to say: 'It is not the last, but the
first step with a view to hound us out of the country. We are therefore
responsible for the safety, not only of the ten or fifteen thousand Indians in
the Transvaal but of the entire Indian community in South Africa.' All present
felt moved by what Gandhi had said. One of them interjected emphatically: 'If
anyone comes forward to demand a certificate from my wife, I would shoot
him on the spot and take the consequences.' Gandhi tried to calm him down
and counselled: 'It will not do to be hasty, impatient or angry. That cannot
save us from this onslaught. But God will come to our help, if we calmly think
over the matter and carry out in time measures of resistance, presenting a
united front and bearing the hardship, which such resistance brings in its
train.' The gathering resolved to hold a public meeting and plan for measures
to fight the intended legislation. 'Black Act' was the name given to it by
Gandhi and his friends.

The Empire Theatre was the venue chosen for the proposed meeting
scheduled for the afternoon of September 11,1 906. It was expected that
there would be a gathering of about a thousand. As the appointed hour
approached, the hall was jam-packed with Indians — most of them
merchants, petty traders and hawkers, all wearing a troubled look. Their
number could not be less than three thousand. Many were not able to get in
for want of room. The Hamidiya Islamic Society, an active body of

A SOLEMN PLEDGE

215

Mohammedans established by Haji Ojer Ally the same year, had played a
leading role in organizing this mass meeting, the like of which Johannesburg
had never witnessed before. The Colonial Secretary who was also invited had
not come but ?* .other official was there to act as an observer. Abdul Gani, a
rich and influential businessman, was in the chair. The first two resolutions
passed at this meeting called for the proposed Bill to be either withdrawn by
the ministry, *or thrown out by the legislature, or disapproved of by the H.M.G.
The third one authorized the BIA to send a deputation to England to put the
grievances of the Indian community before the Imperial Government. It was
the fourth resolution that dealt with the most critical issue — what should the
Indian community do if it failed to secure relief? The answer it gave to this
question was: rather than submit to the galling, tyrannical and un-British
requirements laid down in the draft Ordinance, every Indian in the T ransvaa!
would submit himself to imprisonment and continue to do so until the relief
sought was granted. The way Abdul Gani explained in his introductory speech
the justification for this course of action left no one in doubt regarding its
necessity: ’We have patiently endured the hardships, which have continued
unmitigated. But the further disability proposed by this law is insufferable.
This is for us the time for deeds, not words. We have to act boldly, and in
doing so, we have to be humble and non-violent.' Although put into Abdul
Gani's mouth, one can see that in these words Gandhi's idea of resistance
and his principle of non-violence had sprung up together, both having gained
a good degree of acceptance by his associates at Johannesburg.

The resolution was supported by several speakers. When Sheth Haji
Habib rose to speak, he was ablaze with passion. One important point he
made was that they should pass the resolution with the Almighty as witness
so that later there was no cowardly submission to the degrading legislation.
For his part he solemnly declared in the name of God that he would never
yield to this law and proposed that all present should do likewise.

The new idea thrown up by Sheth Haji Habib had taken Gandhi's breath
away. He could immediately see that it would make all the difference. He
was also conscious that a solemn pledge taken in the proposed manner was
not something to be trifled with. He strongly felt that the audience should
understand the implications of what they were going to do. With the President's
permission he again stood up to address the gathering. Congratulating Habib
Sheth, he explained to the audience that if they were inclined to take a
solemn pledge they should be prepared to carry the responsibility that it
would put on their shoulders. The other important points he made:

Hoping for the best, if a majority of the Indians pledge themselves to
resistance and if all who take the pledge prove true to themselves,
the Ordinance may not even be passed and, if passed, may be
soon repealed. It may be that we may not be called upon to suffer at
all. But one who takes a pledge must be prepared for the worst. We

216

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

might have to go to gaol, where we might be insulted. We might
have to go hungry and suffer extreme heat or cold. Hard labour
might be imposed upon us. We might be flogged by rude warders.

We might be fined heavily and our property might be attached
and held up to auction. Opulent today, we might be reduced to
abject poverty tomorrow. We might be deported. Suffering from
starvation and similar hardships in gaol, some of us might fall ill
and even die. If I am warning you of the risks attendant upon the
pledge, I am at the same time inviting you to pledge yourselves,
and I am fully conscious of my responsibility in the matter. It is
possible that a majority of those present here might take the
pledge in a fit of enthusiasm or indignation but might weaken
under the ordeal, and only a handful might be left to face the
final test. Even then there is only one course open to the like of
me, to die but not to submit to the law.

Lest what Gandhi had said should be misunderstood, he pointed out
that he was not saying all this out of vanity. His sole purpose was to put
everyone on guard and bring home the nature of responsibility implied in the
pledge to be taken. Since they were going to commit themselves in a body,
some persons might imagine that default by others would absolve the rest from
their obligation. He wanted everyone to note that it was his individual responsibility
to be true to his pledge even unto death, no matter what others did.

The entire congregation was afire with excitement. Every time going
to jail was mentioned by a speaker, it was greeted with thunderous cheers.
When Gandhi spoke he was in an elated mood. His role had earlier been
that of a political guide, with that of an organizer added to it. The moment
he declared that he would lead the new movement with all his might, he
unequivocally assumed the role of a leader. Whatever he had done in the
past was strictly constitutional. But now he would no more remain locked
in that strait-jacket.

Before the meeting concluded all the Indians stood up with upraised
hands and took an oath in the name of God to go to jail rather than submit
to the Ordinance if it were to be enacted. The solemn pledge heralded the
beginning of a process that in course of time demonstrated to the civilized
world the application of a feather-edged political weapon, not sharp but
effective none the less. In his references to the Transvaal Indians' upsurge,
Gandhi had not so far gone beyond using the word resistance. It was the
editor of The Star, foremost among critics of the Indian leadership and the
stand taken by it about the Asiatic Draft Ordinance, who labelled the
Indian community's planned action as passive resistance corresponding
to the happenings in England connected with the conservative Government's
education policy. The term, having thus come into use in South Africa,
remained current even after Gandhi had found it necessary to give the
Indian movement a new name.

A SOLEMN PLEDGE

217

Within hours of the historic meeting of September 1 1 , the Empire
Theatre caught fire and was completely destroyed. Characteristically
many Indians considered it a good omen and concluded that the hated
Ordinance would have the same end as the theatre. The spirits of the
Indian community were raised to a dizzy pitch. Its members assembled
in vari-ous towns to take the pledge of resistance. Even before the
stamp of a formal resolution had been put on the likely course of action,
Gandhi had taken care to give practical shape to a special arrangement
for collection and management of funds required for the kind of struggle
that was being planned.

The Indian community was now on the threshold of a new form of
political action, radically different from its earlier politics of gentle protest.
The BIA could no more shut its eyes to the lessons anyone could learn from
NIC's experience, i.e., a long trail of anti-Asiatic laws passed, one after the
other, in utter disregard of its petitions and memorials. The Transvaal Indians'
betrayal by the British Imperial authority after the Boer War was so complete
that they could not have placed much reliance on its commitment to the
promises by which it was bound. They had hardly recovered from the Bazaar
Notice trauma, when the menacing Black Act appeared over their neck as a
new sword of Damocles. The Indian community's capacity for continued
patience then came to an end. The prolonged suffering that the petty traders,
poor hawkers and common workers went through during and after the war
had brought to them a new consciousness which the BIA viewed as its
additional strength. Above all, Gandhi both as a moral force and a political
major had reached the stage when he could feel confident of his ability to
mobilize the people around him for the kind of fight that he had been visualising
since January 1904.

At a time when some very vital changes were taking place in Gandhi's
mindscape, it was quite natural for him to interpret the Transvaal Indians'
political crisis in terms of his own value system. St led him to the conclusion
that their salvation was possible only through moral transformation whereby
everyone was to be ready to sacrifice his persona! interest and comfort for
public good. Without such patriotic sentiment pervading the community it
could not, according to him, face the challenge before it. However valid
the new political philosophy, transcendence on the scale he considered
necessary was not possible. What he succeeded in doing, however,
was to impart a sharp moral tone to the Transvaai Indian community's
majority voice. Even this uneven change was welcome and could be
employed as a launching-pad, held together by BIA’s increased
organizational capacity because of the help it received from the newly
formed Hamidiya Islamic Society. The bulk of Gujarati merchants having
a leading role in both the bodies whole-heartedly lent their support to the
idea of resistance. The visible change in their attitude proved contagious
and most other members of the community became equally enthusiastic.
The fact that the active leadership now included at least two persons

218

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

representing the lower classes was of immense help in bringing the latter
into the main current of political activity.*

•kirk

As could be expected, the white reaction to developments in the Indian
camp took the form of wild threats of agitation for physical expulsion of Asians
from the Transvaal. The administration too became more callous
in the enforcement of existing regulations. One bad case that Gandhi took up
strongly was that of a poor Indian woman named Punia. She was
travelling by train with her husband who held a registration certificate
which covered his wife. She was arrested and detained for failure to
produce a separate permit for herself. The magistrate who tried the case
ordered her to quit the Colony within seven hours. For failure to comply with
this order the woman was again arrested. Fortunately, relief was granted in
the end, as the matter had been handled with great care. In another case a
boy under eleven was arrested and sentenced to pay a fine of £50 or to go to
jail for three months, and at the end of it to leave the country. The
conviction was set aside by the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice Sir
James Rose-lnnes stated in the judgment that the administration would bring
itself to ridicule and contempt if such a policy was pursued.

The Indian resolve to put up resistance if they had to, and simultaneous
efforts in the direction of persuasion failed to dissuade the Transvaal
Government from going ahead with the proposed legislation. Passed with
unseemly haste, it had gone through only one substantive change whereby
the clause affecting women was deleted. With matching promptness, the
enactment was sent to the Secretary of State for Colonies to obtain royal
assent. The resolution regarding the Indian deputation to go to England had
kept the door open for reconciliation. If despite this the Imperial Government
chose to force the issue by giving its approval to the legislation in question,
the Indians would have no option but launch the campaign for which they
were getting ready. Lord Selborne, for his part, was holding on to the view
that the BIA had not grasped the real significance of the new law which,
according to him, merely provided for verification of the existing documents
and their substitution by more complete and authentic certificates that would
relieve the persons concerned from the inconvenience to which they were
liable under the existing system. Gandhi's reaction to this attitude on the
Government's part was: 'Where there is so much ignorance, our duty can
only be this: to act up to the Fourth Resolution about gaol-going. The
Government will then immediately see that, unless there were genuine
difficulties, a thousand men would not court imprisonment.'

* They were Peter Moonlight Modliar and C.K. Thambi Naidoo, both of whom had a sizeable
Tamil following. Naidoo was to be one of Gandhi's most devoted lieutenants all through the
movement.

A SOLEMN PLEDGE

219

A careful reading of the new legislation should have led anyone to
anticipate that the regulations framed under this law would lay down a more
strict method of identification for the immigrants from Asia. The Assistant
Colonial Secretary (Lionel Curtis) cleared all doubts, if there were any, when
he indicated that the Asians would have to put ten fingerprints on their
certificates instead of only thumb impressions as required under the old
rules. An assertion to this effect on behalf of the Government came as another
thunderbolt upon the Transvaal indian community. This new provocation
naturally added further fuel to the prevailing mood of exasperation.

At this critical juncture, one would have expected Gandhi to consider
if there was anything to be gained from some kind of alliance between the
Indian community and the politically conscious elements among the other
non-whites who had also been protesting to Whitehall against the injustice
and oppression which all of them had suffered so long at the hands of
European colonists. How Gandhi viewed this issue is revealed in what he
had to say after going through the petition made to His Majesty's Government
around March 1906 by the Cape coloureds including those living in the
Transvaal and the Orange River Colony: '...it was a wise policy, on the part
of British Indians throughout South Africa, to have kept themselves apart
and distinct from the other coloured communities in this country.' He did
realise that the Indians and other coloured people had much in common
regarding their grievances. But the points of view from which the different
sections could press their claims were altogether diverse, according to
him, and did not therefore allow them to join hands. Elaborating his argument,
he had gone on to say: 'Whereas British Indians may, and do effectively,
use the Proclamation of 1 858 in support of their claims, the other coloured
people are not in a position to do so; and while some sections of the coloured
people can claim full rights as to property and movement in the Orange
River Colony, British Indians have no footing whatsoever. Similarly, in the
Transvaal, many sections of other coloured people are capable of owning
landed property, but British Indians are debarred from doing so under Law 3
of 1885. Whilst, therefore, the Indian and non-Indian sections of the coloured
communities should, and do, remain apart, and have their separate
organizations, there is no doubt that each can give strength to the other in
urging their common rights.' With Gandhi looking at the Indians' probelm
vis-a-vis that of other coloureds, brown or black*, in this light there could be
no question of all non-whites getting together to set up a united front.

* That the Transvaal blacks were as anxious as Indians about His Majesty's Government
doing something concrete to protect their interests before this Colony was granted represent¬
ative government is clear from the petition submitted by the Native United Political Associa¬
tion on April 25, 1905 to King Edward VII. Ed. Thomas Karis and Gwendolen M. Carter,
From Protest to Challenge — A Documentary History of African Politics in South Africa
(Stanford, 1972), Document 9, pp. 45-6.

DEPUTATION TO ENGLAND

The proposal about sending a deputation to England, which had
remained in abeyance for some time, had been revived at the mass meeting
held on September 11,1906 in the Old Empire Theatre at Johannesburg. A
section of the Indian community considered it advisable that Gandhi should
at this critical juncture remain in the T ransvaal lest some people in his absence
should feel tempted to apply for new registration certificates. If this was
accepted, Haji Ojer Ally alone would have gone to London. But there was
irresistible pressure from Natal for Gandhi to be a member of the deputation
and it was ultimately decided that he should also go. Incidentally, the Natal
Indian Congress also had made a contribution towards meeting the expenditure
to be incurred on the mission.

After the rail journey to Cape Town Gandhi and Ally boarded the s.s.
Armadale Castle on October 3, 1 906. The steamer was no less than a small
township. During the voyage Ally was troubled by rheumatism and bronchitis.
When the medicines prescribed for him did network, Gandhi tried his nature-
therapy on him. Though he was unable to regain normal health, he did get
considerable relief.

Gandhi studied with much interest the manner in which the passengers
on board spent their time. Placing what he saw on the steamer alongside
what he had experienced during the Anglo-Boer War, he made some
interesting observations about the Englishman's way of life:

When he chooses to enjoy wealth and power, he excels in doing
it and he makes the best of poverty, too. He alone knows how to
give orders; and he knows too how to take them, in his behaviour
he is great with the great and small with the small. He knows
how to earn money and he knows how to spend it. He knows
howto converse and move in company. He lives in the knowledge
that his happiness depends on the happiness of others. The
[Englishman I observed during the war... did all his work himself,
trekked over long distances and felt happy with dry bread. Here
on board the ship he does not do any work. He presses a button,
and an attendant stands before him. He must have nice dishes
of all kinds to eat. Every day he puts on a new dress. All this
becomes him, but he does not lose his balance.

DEPUTATION TO ENGLAND

221

Continuing this train. of thought, he wrote in another report from
the steamer: Those who have work to do, attend to it as if it is the most
natural thing to do, without fuss ... The crew discharge their duties
punctually to the minute. Looking at the vanities around them, they do not
forget their station in life. Envying none, they remain absorbed in their
work.' These despatches, besides throwing some light on the kind of virtues
to which Gandhi at that time attached importance, also revealed that he
had much to like about the British character. The coin, however, had an
obverse side which was anything but attractive. The same Englishman
who had made South Africa his home was often at his worst when it came
to dealing with those under his rule.

Sir Richard Solomon, the Acting Lieutenant-Governor of the Transvaal
was going to England by the same boat. Gandhi and Ally met him about
the time the ship was approaching Madeira. Initially Sir Richard was
sympathetic. He even mentioned that a commission might be appointed
to go into the problem. As the discussion proceeded further, he referred to
organized inflow of unauthorized Indians into the Transvaal in large
numbers. He was so obsessed by this thought that the very next day,
when Ally had another interview with him, his accent was on acceptance
of the new Act by Indians. When Ally repeated this to Gandhi, the latter
was not much surprised.

They landed at Southampton on October 20, 1906 and reached
London the following day. They took two posh suites in Hotel Cecil. Its
luxurious splendour should not have agreed with Gandhi's love of austerity,
but he chose to go in for the expense involved to make sure that the
delegation received respectful attention. To effect some saving, Ally later
moved to a cheaper place. Gandhi, however, set up an office in the hotel
itself, with sufficient secretarial assistance, necessary for attending to an
endless stream of correspondence, interviews and statements to the Press.
He proved himself a first-rate public-relations man. Louis Ritch who was
at this time studying for the bar was of great help to him. Even then
Gandhi had to do so much personally that he could not allow himself a
moment's rest. He had some trouble with his teeth, but it was too difficult
to find time for treatment.

Before a petition could be presented to Lord Elgin, Gandhi had to
get together a committee of distinguished persons to accompany the
delegation and introduce its two members to the Secretary of State so
that the Transvaal Indians' case was not taken casually. The committee
was led by Sir Lepel Griffin, some of the other members being Sir Henry
Cotton, Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir Muncherji Bhownaggree.* Lord Elgin
received them on November 8. Sir Lepel Griffin who happened to be one of
his close friends briefly presented the case on behalf of the British Indian

* An Indian member of the H.O.C. He had shown deep interest in the problems of his
countrymen in South Africa.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

delegation, urging His Majesty's Government not to give its sanction to the
new legislation. The next one to speak was Gandhi. He was at pains to refute
the claim that the ordinance was meant to provide relief to the Asiatics. For
example, the remission of the £3 fee, though welcome, was, according to
him, illusory because most of the persons who were to be allowed to re-enter
the Transvaal had already paid it. The provision for issue of temporary permits
was superfluous as this power could be exer-cised by the Government under
the existing law itself.

The Transvaal administration had been harping on the scope for endless
confusion inherent in the procedures left behind by the Boer Government.
The revised registration system under the new law was professedly to remove
this difficulty and provide for fool-proof checking of the permit-holders. On this
point Gandhi argued that the existing arrangement for identification was not
inadequate. When Law 3 of 1 885 came in for rigorous enforcement in Lord
Milner's time, the Indians had, on his advice, accepted fresh registration
voluntarily in view of an assurance that it would give them a complete title to
live in the Colony. All that was to become null and void under the new law.

What had really troubled the Transvaal Government was its impression
that unauthorized British Indians were coming into the Colony on a large
scale. Gandhi asserted that this charge against the Indian community was
baseless. Without mincing words, he referred to the fourth resolution passed
at the British Indian mass meeting at Johannesburg on September 11 , 1906,
and stated: 'It was passed ... solemnly, prayerfully, and in all humility, and
the ... great meeting decided by that resolution that, if this Ordinance ever
came to be enforced, and we did not get relief, the British Indians, rather than
submit to the great degradation involved in it, would go to gaol; such was the
intensity of the feeling aroused by the Ordinance.' In conclusion, Gandhi
pleaded that the minimum the British Indian community expected was the
appointment of a commission to thrash out the whole question before any
drastic measures were taken.

Lord Elgin had given a patient hearing to Sir Lepel Griffin, Gandhi,
Ally and others who chose to speak. They had stated the case with enough
force to make it obligatory on Elgin's part to reconsider the view conveyed
to him by the Transvaal Government that the new law had been passed
only for the benefit of the Indians. Moreover, he could not easily disregard
the resolution in support of the Indian case passed only the previous day
at a gathering of over 1 00 Members of Parliament drawn from the Liberal,
Labour and Nationalist Parties. This meeting presided over by Sir Cotton
and addressed by Gandhi and Ally, besides several MPs having deep
concern about the status of British Indians in the Transvaal, had already
been flashed as an important news on the morning of November 8, 1 906.
A fortnight later the deputation, again accompanied by a powerful
committee, met John Morley, Secretary of State for India. The whole case
was presented to him also. Having heard it, he promised to give it the
maximum possible support. The picture he had formed in his mind regarding

DEPUTATION TO ENGLAND

223

the role of trade jealousy in the matter was clear: 'It is not very unnatural
that a small white store-keeper should be very happy if he could so far prevail
upon the prejudices of the people as to induce those who are in authority to
keep out his formidable competitors ... we know quite well ... that it is not
merely prejudice of colour; it is not a prejudice of racial inferiority, because
that would be absurd when there are, as we know, Indians in the Transvaal,
pursuing professions and so forth, who are not only not inferior but greatly
superior in many of the elements that make a civilized being to many of
those who are not excluded from the T ransvaal.' But he was frankly opposed
to the idea of a commission of inquiry.

Following this representation to John Morley, about fifty Liberal MPs
had an exclusive meeting to discuss the same issue again. The amount of
interest in the subject displayed on this occasion was more than anyone
could expect: the participants decided to request the Prime Minister to
receive a deputation. The next day, a select group of half a dozen called on
Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman. The PM promised to discuss the matter
with Lord Elgin. After that things moved exceedingly fast. The same
afternoon (November 27), Elgin telegraphed to Lord Selborne: '... I cannot
without further consideration advise His Majesty that the Ordinance should
be brought into operation ... I shall therefore announce that in meantime ...
it will not be further proceeded with.'

Winston Churchill was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Colonies. A person in the position he held could always help or hinder. So
Gandhi and Ally thought it proper to meet him too. They got an appointment
shortly before they were due to return from England. He was quite nice when
they went to him. One point he made was: in case the Ordinance was refused
assent, would they not expect something worse when responsible government
was established? Reply given to him: the Indians could not imagine an Act
worse than this Ordinance. All that they wanted was refusal of royal assent in
the belief that the future would take care of itself.

Gandhi had come to England on a mission the outcome of which was
to have an important bearing on the future of Indians in South Africa. He had
gone about the task with superb deftness and total dedication. Within the
short period at his disposal he mobilized with great success valuable help
from a host of public men of England. He had commandeered some Indian
students from South Africa, studying in England, and put them to work as
assistants to the delegation. In this way, not only did he get good work out of
them but also introduced them to the political processes. The most capable
among them was Joseph Royeppen, the son of an indentured labourer who
had not allowed this handicap to keep him down.

Gandhi's hands were full with all that he was required to do regarding
the Transvaal's Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance. He managed,
however, to find some time right at the end to prepare a statement about the
position of British Indians in Natal and left it with L.W. Ritch for presentation
to the Secretary of State for Colonies. He particularly touched on the

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

manner in which the Dealers' Licenses Act was being administered,
often involving serious injustice to the Indian traders. Referring to the
fact that Joseph Chamberlain had at one stage advised the Natal Ministry
that unless the municipal bodies exercised the powers given to them
in a reasonable way it might become necessary to amend the Act,
Gandhi proposed that the power of the Supreme Court to review the
decisions of the licensing officers should be restored. Strangely, in the
case put forward on behalf of the Natal Indians the ex-indentured
labourers' poll tax problem had not figured.

Even while Gandhi was frantically struggling to complete the work
that had brought him to London, he had to field against an abominable
attempt to denigrate him. Two Indians of Johannesburg, namely Dr. William
Godfrey and C. M. Pillay, sent a petition to the Colonial Office questioning
the credentials of the delegation. Apparently, 437 other Indians had disclaimed
having given M.K. Gandhi any mandate to represent them in England. They
had described him as a 'professional political agitator' whose activities had
created differences between the whites and the coloured people. Soon it
became the subject-matter of a question raised in the Parliament. Gandhi
was not put out by this onslaught. Maintaining his cool, he convincingly
refuted the allegations. He made public the cable he himself had received
from Johannesburg which bore indisputable evidence of the fact that Dr.
Godfrey had obtained signatures of the persons in question on blank paper
on a false pretence. He also disclosed that the man had offered himself as
one of the delegates for representing the case in London but was not accepted
by the Association. His own two brothers in England, George and James
Godfrey who had been faithfully working for Gandhi, sent a letter to The
Times, dissociating themselves from the doings of their elder brother. All in
all, after this incident Gandhi's image as a representative of his countrymen
in the Transvaal emerged absolutely untarnished. For his part he dismissed
it with characteristic charitableness: 'I am not depressed on this account.
Neither need it hurt our feelings. We should not be angry with Dr. Godfrey.
He is a child and lacks understanding. Often he is unaware of his own folly.
He deserves pity rather than scorn.'

Gandhi had earned much goodwill during his short stay in London,
and with that to back him, he organized, with Sir Muncherji Bhownaggree's
approval, the South Africa British India Committee (SABIC), a body
composed of persons known for their standing in Britain's public life, to
continually take care of problems concerning Indian settlers in the
subcontinent. Louis Ritch who had acquired considerable knowledge of
the subject was appointed its Secretary at a nominal salary of £12 per
month, keeping in view the limitation of funds. The setting up of the
committee was solemnised on the morning of November 29, 1 906 after a
breakfast given by the two delegates in Hotel Cecil to all friends and
sympathisers. In its composition and aims, this body was something like
the British Committee of the Indian National Congress.

DEPUTATION TO ENGLAND

225

Having finished its work, the delegation left England by s.s. Briton on
December 1 , 1 906. On reaching Madeira, Gandhi received two cables, one
from London and the other from Johannesburg. According to both, the
Ordinance in question had been refused assent by Lord Elgin. In the last
section of Gandhi's deputation notes, he wrote: This is more than we had
hoped for. But God's ways are inscrutable. Well-directed efforts yield
appropriate fruit. The case of the Indian community was just, and
circumstances turned out to be favourable. It is a happy outcome, but we
may not exult over it. Much of the struggle still lies ahead.'

The delegation landed at Cape Town on December 18, 1906 in
good cheer, though Gandhi could sense difficulties ahead. Anyhow, at
the time of his return he was a great deal taller as far as his political
stature was concerned.

PASSIVE RESISTANCE

During the voyage from Madeira to Cape Town, while Gandhi was
tempted to build 'castles in the air about the coming redress of many more
grievances', he was not oblivious of the backslide that was likely after the
Transvaal was granted self-government. Winston Churchill's note of warning
about it could not have been out of his mind when he and Ally were welcomed
back in South Africa with ecstatic embraces and greetings, showing too
pronounced a sense of victory. Even as Gandhi gratefully acknowledged
congratulations from all quarters, he was fully conscious of the struggle
that lay ahead. A vague, but acute, feeling of apprehensiveness was slowly
creeping into his mind, though it was softened by his belief that ultimately
it was truth that would prevail.

What had happened behind the scenes was too ugly to be viewed
charitably even by a person endowed with Gandhi's forbearance. When
the Ordinance in question had been transmitted to the Colonial Office, it
was accompanied by a confidential note from Lord Selborne, making out
that the enactment had sought to improve the status of Asiatic settlers,
but it was opposed by the Permit Agents of whom Gandhi was 'the ablest
and most successful.' It was a forbidding task for Gandhi to establish his
credentials in the face of this prejudicial report directed against him
personally, with Dr. William Godfrey and C. M. Pillay having lent further
weight to these insinuations.

Whiie the Indian delegation was in London, Sir Richard Solomon,
Lieutenant-Governor of the T ransvaal, also was having parleys with the
Colonial Office. Even before the delegation had placed its case before Lord
Elgin, his Secretariat had, on examination of the formal petition, proposed
that the law should be disallowed and the matter left to the new legislature.
About this issue, the Parliamentary Under Secretary Winston Churchill
had in his characteristic style noted: 'We are in a wholly indefensible
position. The deputation will certainly stir up difficulties in the H. of C.
What can we say, after what we said to Kruger? The new Parliament may
shoulder the burden. Why should we? Dawdle or disallow — preferably
the former.' It is only public criticism that the Government was afraid of.
Justice to the Indian settlers was nowhere in the reckoning. The aim was
somehow to defer the issue for disposal by the new legislature after the
Transvaal became a self-governing colony. This course of action was
underwritten on November 8, after the Indian delegation had met Lord

PASSIVE RESISTANCE

227

Elgin. But the decision was not communicated to Lord Selborne till
November 27.

In the meantime, Lord Selborne continued to prod the Colonial
Office. Not wanting to spare any means conveniently available, he had
the anti-Indian resolutions passed by the town councils, chambers of
commerce and the White League promptly cabled to London. He even
argued that disallowance of the law would result in the Asiatic problem
becoming an issue in the coming elections. As a result, Lord Elgin
came round to accepting Churchill's counsel. On November 23, he wrote
a private letter to Lord Selborne, explaining his stratagem: '... I am
coming unwillingly to the conclusion that the opposition is too strong
for me to sanction the Ordinance. I think the Indians are ill-advised and
that you are right in thinking they may fare worse in the future. But I
don't see why the whites should object if the question is left to the new
Government which they will elect and control. What I am at the moment
inclined to do is to send you a despatch, now in draft, asking
consideration of certain points — and to add that as these cannot be
settled before 1 st January, I think the Ordinance should remain for the
new legislature to determine...'

When the Prime Minister came into the picture, Lord Elgin hurriedly
telegraphed to Lord Selborne on November 27, that he could not without
further consideration advise His Majesty that the Ordinance should be brought
into operation. Obviously this held good only for that moment. Going by Lord
Elgin's letter of November 23, Lord Selborne had no reason to doubt that if
the same law was passed by the new legislature it would have HMG's
acceptance. Gandhi took some time to see through the sham.

The T ransvaal was granted self-government from January 1 , 1 907. Lord
Selborne was appointed Governor of Transvaal, the post of Lieutenant-Governor
having been done away with. The general election under the new constitution
was ordered for February 20, 1 907. Soon the entire Colony was in the grip of
a feverish election campaign. The two major parties, Progressive (mine-
owners), led by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick and Sir George Farrar and Het Volk
(the Dutch), led by Louis Botha and Jan Smuts, were the real contenders.
The Nationalist party, headed by Sir Richard Solomon, was formed to hold
together those Europeans who were inclined to follow the middle path.

Sir Richard was regarded in the Transvaal as a unifying link between
the British and the Dutch. Just back from England, he made statements in
his public speeches regarding the Asiatic problem, which were heard with
keen interest. He made it clear that the Ordinance disallowed by the Secretary
of State for Colonies would be reintroduced in the new parliament and the
Imperial Government would not reject an Act passed by it. The Indian
community could now see how its delegation to England had been duped.

228

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The election brought the Het Volk Party into power. In the new
Government, General Botha was the Prime Minister. Smuts assumed the office
of Colonial Secretary. So the Asiatic question was to be dealt with by him.

Immediately after passing the budget the new parliament took up the
Asiatic Registration Bill which was, except for the revised date from which it
was meant to come into force, an exact replica of the original Ordinance. It
was rushed through with astonishing haste. Within three days it was passed
by both the Houses. The Upper House, expected to protect the interests of
those who did not have the franchise, had been dutifully approached by the
British Indian Association, but without any result. The whites were jubilant
beyond measure. Gandhi viewed it as a challenge to Indians in the Transvaal
and a test of their ability to give a fight by way of passive resistance as had
been decided by them on September 11,1 906.

On receiving the new legislation for His Majesty's assent, the Secretary
of State for Colonies did not have to spend much time on its scrutiny. He paid
no heed to the resolutions passed at a mass meeting of the British Indian
Association on March 29, 1907. According to resolution 2, the Association
had offered to submit to voluntary registration again as had been done by the
community in 1904 under Lord Milner's advice. Under resolution 3, the
Association had sought full Imperial protection by reason of the fact that
British Indians, a small and weak minority, had no voice in the choice of
legislators. There could be no question of Lord Elgin, who had himself
encouraged the Transvaal Government to pass the very law he had earlier
vetoed, holding out against the general will expressed by the first elected
representatives. However, even while communicating validation of the
enactment (Act 2 of 1907) on May 9, 1907, he thought it proper to offer a
piece of advice to the Pretoria regime: 'I consider it my duty to place on
record that His Majesty's Government do not consider the position of the
Asiatics lawfully resident in the Transvaal, as settled by this Act, to be
satisfactory; that they adhere to the opinions which have been expressed by
successive Secretaries of State as to the desirability of relaxing the restrictions
to which Asiatics are at present subject; and that they commend this view to
the Transvaal Government in the hope that it may be carefully considered
how far practical effect can be given to it.' This caveat was nothing more than
an elegant pretence.

The vexatious law was to take effect from July 1 . Gandhi had been doing all
that he could to fortify his compatriots' will to adhere to the jail-going resolution. He
explained to them that the BIA's proposal of voluntary registration fulfilled the
basic requirement of the Act. The repudiation of this offer by the Government
showed that its real aim was to humiliate the Indians. On April 6, 1 907 Gandhi had
written: 'If, then, all the moderate propositions submitted by the British Indians in
the Transvaal fail to carry weight, and if the Imperial Government abdicate their
function of protecting the weak against the strong, we re-affirm our opinion that for
the Indian community to be considered a self-respecting section of people, no
other course is left open, but with quiet courage and resignation, to prefer

PASSIVE RESISTANCE

229

gaol to submission to the insult offered by the Bill.'

Gandhi was thus preparing his countrymen to cheerfully walk to the
doors of the prison-palace, as soon as they were opened for them rather than
barter away whatever freedom they still had for the slavery prescribed for
them by the new legislation. The simple prescriptions he had put forward
were: to decline firmly and respectfully acceptance of re-registration or leaving
the country or paying the fine; to have nothing to do with the Permit Department.
It was Gandhi's function to provide ready-made answers to all questions as
to what was to be done by the people concerned under different
circumstances. His office had become a sort of general headquarters of the
passive resistance movement.

As the day of reckoning came closer, all over South Africa the Indians
felt certain that their brethren in the Transvaal were going to court
imprisonment. The magic of going to jail had been romanticized in the
minds of the people. On May 18,1907, Gandhi wrote: 'Some say gaol is a
palace; others look upon it as a beautiful garden. Yet others consider it
paradise. Again there are some who think that gaol will prove to be a key
which will unshackle the Indians. Some others hold that, through the gaol
gates, we shall pass from our present bondage to freedom.' The Indian
community was bubbling with enthusiasm.

***

For implementation of the new Act, M. Chamney had been appointed
the Registrar of Asiatics. It was part of his plan to take up registration district
by district instead of attempting it over the entire Colony in one sweep.
Pretoria had, somehow, been considered the weakest spot as far as the
Indian resistance movement was concerned. The first Permit Office was
opened there on July 1, 1907. The Asians living at Pretoria and in its
neighbourhood were required to get themselves registered within a month. To
everyone's surprise these people displayed an unusual strength of
will. The mass meeting held in the capital city on June 30 completely changed
the scene. The volunteers — most of them, young boys — spared no pains
to picket the Permit Office. If they found any Indian going there they would
persuade him not to seta bad example. They went from house to house and
explained what the registration was going to mean. The whole city was flecked
with placards designed to arouse amongst Indians the spirit of self-respect
and strengthen their determination for total boycott of the Permit Office. The
keynote of the message set forth on the posters was:

Loyalty to the King demands loyalty to the
King of Kings
Indians, BE FREE!

Pretoria, which everyone thought would fall behind, had at this early
stage set a standard for other towns to follow. A South Indian Postmaster
preferred to resign rather than ask for the new permit. The Registrar's

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

own Punjabi attendant flatly refused to go in for registration. Another
person who managed to reach the Permit Office threw away his application
when he was called upon to give his fingerprints. The few persons who had
taken new registration were in trouble. Although no one did them any harm,
they found themselves isolated. Public criticism acted as a deterrent against
betrayal of the common cause.

On July 31 , the last day for registration, another mass meeting of
Indians was held at Pretoria. There were delegates from all over the T ransvaal.
About two thousand resisters who had collected on the ground outside the
mosque were in an absolutely defiant turn of mind. William Hosken, who had
come at the instance of General Botha, was one of the speakers. He was
known for his interest in the Indian community's welfare. But on this day he
was speaking as an emissary of the Government. His line of reasoning was:
the Indians had acquitted themselves well by putting up a good resistance;
with the law in question having behind it the sanction of unanimous vote in
the legislature and the Government bent upon enforcing it, the Indians would
be well advised to submit to it as an inevitable piece of bad luck. He told the
audience clearly that any further resistance by the Indian community would
amount to dashing its head against a waif. On the other hand, if the Indians
acted as demanded by the law, General Smuts would be prepared to look
into any representations regarding minor changes in the regulations framed
under the Act. William Hosken was an acknowledged friend of the non-whites,
always zealous about any forlorn cause, but when he chose to undertake
this peace mission he had not understood the Indians' problem, nor the mood
many of them were in. Gandhi very sharply reacted to his idea of the inevitable
which, he made it plain, was the will of God alone. If one were to go by it, the
British Indians, being voteless and voiceless in this country and all their
petitions having been 'flung into the wastepaper basket', must oppose the
unjust law. Gandhi had no doubt in his mind that 'in resisting the wretched
Act, Indians would be seeking the Kingdom of God.'

The Permit Offices were opened, one after the other, in different towns
having a sizeable Indian population in and around them. In the face of only
a negligible number of persons coming up for registration, the prescribed
time-limit was extended from month to month. The Transvaal administration
was not, however, inclined to think in terms of conciliation. While avoiding
any headlong offensive, it had in various ways made it known to the Indians
that if they persisted in following the line of action adopted by them they
would suffer for it. The continued stiffness on Government's part brought to
surface the infirmity of the half-grown movement. Some of the leading Indians
became panicky and addressed a letter to General Smuts stating that if
only a little relief was promised they would be willing to give up the
fight. Such were the relaxations sought by them: the police should
not inspect the permits in public; signatures in place of ten
fingerprints should be accepted. Commenting on this, Gandhi said: 'It
would mean that instead of iron fetters, they would put on us fetters of

PASSIVE RESISTANCE

231

some lighter metal. Our struggle is to break the fetters and smash them
to pieces.’ To counteract this cowardly move, a monster-petition bearing the
signatures of 4,522 persons, was sent to the Colonial Secretary on Sep¬
tember 21 ,1907, demanding nothing short of total repeal of the Act,

If Gandhi and those among his associates who remained unshaken
had the courage of their conviction, the Government was equally serious
about its resolve to deliver such a crushing blow to the Indian immigrants'
resistance movement that they should have no desire left to consider the
Transvaal as their adopted home. It was also bent upon on stopping further
ingress of enterprising Indians into the Colony, it was in this spirit that the
Immigrants Restriction Act was also passed hurriedly by the new
legislature. Having received the Governor's assent on August 1 5, 1 907, it
was promptly sent to the Secretary of State for Colonies to obtain royal
sanction. This enactment, broadly framed on the lines of the Natal and
Cape Acts, was more stringent in certain respects. This new legislation
and the Asiatic Law Amendment Act were, in fact, designed to reinforce
each other. Section 2(4) of the former implied that the Indians who had not
registered under the provisions of the latter would be classed among the
prohibited immigrants' category: Section 8 forbade such persons from
acquiring licenses to trade and to own or lease property. It also had a
provision according to which unlawful residents could be arrested and
deported from the Colony. When all efforts by the BIA at the local level to
ward off the new legislation failed, it sent a petition to the Secretary of
State for Colonies, requesting him to disallow the enactment and use the
Imperial Government's good offices to have it suitably amended, failing
which the British Indians should be withdrawn from the Transvaal with full
compensation for the losses suffered by them.

The sword on the Indian neck was going to be deadlier with the weight
of the Immigration Law added to it. Even this grim situation had failed to
unnerve a large section of the Transvaal Indians. Gandhi was busy preparing
them to face the threat with courage. He was confident that success would
be theirs if they remained 'really firm, forsaking their wealth, suffering hardships
of gaoi life, and taking pride in being deported.'

Evidently it was to be a long struggle — a fact that Gandhi had
known from the very beginning. The Transvaal BIA did not have a financial
base strong enough to sustain a movement which by its very nature involved
a substantial working expenditure. To meet this requirement the Anti-Indian
Law Fund had already been instituted by the Association. Initially looked
after by a special committee, it was soon entrusted to Gandhi for
management according to the exigencies of the fast-changing situation. All
possible devices were employed for raising funds. The influential persons
were expected to motivate their respective sub-groups to maximize the
contribution. The Natal Indian Congress was required to remit whatever
amount it could possibly spare besides its share to keep the London
Committee (the popular name given to the SABIC) going. The non-political bodies

232

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

whose constituents had a desire to support the movement were another
source of financial assistance.

The Indian Opinion at this time had played an important role in arousing
among the Indians in South Africa a new consciousness of self-respect and
national honour. They were feverishly anxious to know what was happening in
various parts of the Transvaal and all that Gandhi had to say. As the weekly
reached the contributors it was avidly read and passed on to others. The
Government too looked at it as an organ of the Indian struggle. The Colonial
Office was also watchful about what Gandhi was writing week after week.

***

It was in Gandhi's nature to avoid short-cut methods. Having set his
mind on an aim unexceptionable beyond doubt, he gave careful thought to
all issues relevant to it, keeping himself open to inspiration from whatever
source he could draw it. He had in his own way tried for a number of years
to help his countrymen in Natal and the Transvaal to protect their rights.
The earnest and persevering petitioner in him had at last come to feel that
mere reasoning or persuasion could not carry the Indian community far,
unless it was supported by direct action in some form. It was with this
general belief that Gandhi had studied and restudied Tolstoy's writings and
had looked around to see how others seeking redressal of grievances went
about the task of securing justice.

He had known about the passive resistance campaign launched in
England by the Methodists, Baptists and other nonconformists under the
leadership of Rev. John Clifford against the Education Act of 1902. This
movement had involved about 300 jail sentences suffered by 180 persons
and about 2,400 cases of punitive seizure and sale of household goods. In
India itself, the boycott of British goods had been adopted in August 1 905 as
a means of fighting the partition of E3engal. The ideals of Swaraj and Swadeshi
had sprung up at a time when Gandhi was in search of such light. The spirit
of struggle that lay behind these principles had found expression in South
Africa at the historic mass meeting held in the Empire Theatre at Johannesburg
on September 11,1906 in the form of a solemn pledge that the Transvaal
Indians would rather opt for going to jail than submit to the tyranny of the
Asiatic Registration Act.

While on deputation to England, Gandhi had met Pandit Shyamji
Krishnavarma, the founder of India House in London, on the evening of
October 21 ,1906. They felt so drawn to each other that they talked till the
small hours of the morning. The Pandit, with an illustrious career behind him,
had settled in England. He could afford to live in comfort, but he had
opted for poverty. Gandhi wrote about him on November 3, 1906: 'His
mission is service to his country. The idea underlying his service is that

PASSIVE RESISTANCE

233

there should be complete Swaraj for India and that the British should quit the
country, handing over power to Indians. If they do not do so, the Indians
should refuse them all help so that they become unable to carry on the
administration and are forced to leave.' Shyamji had, no doubt, left a deep
impression on Gandhi's mind.

About this time, two happenings in England had drawn Gandhi's special
attention. One related to the manner in which the dealers and consumers
successfully resisted an attempt made by the manufacturers of soap to
combine and increase its price. They had plainly refused to buy the product
until their demand was met. The second thing was the manner in which
women in England were fighting for their right to vote which the Government
was not willing to concede. Three days after his arrival in London, the Women's
Social and Political Union had held a powerful demonstration in the H.O.C.
Lobby. Eleven women — one of them Richard Cobden's daughter — were
prosecuted and sentenced to imprisonment when they refused to furnish the
security demanded of them. Even when lodged in jail, they did not give up
their militancy. If British women could display such courage, Gandhi wondered,
would the T ransvaal Indians fail in their duty and be afraid of jail!

At the time of the formation of the SABIC in England, Dr. Josiah
Oldfield had remarked that strength and justice were dear to the British
people and under their rule justice could not often be had without some
show of strength, whether of the pen, of the sword, or of money. Echoing
his friend's thought, Gandhi had advised his countrymen: 'For our part we
are to use only the strength that comes from unity and truth.' These two
values had been dear to him since long. Resort to passive resistance had
further enhanced his concern for them.

Gandhi had always taken pride in the fact that his countrymen in this
foreign land had been a peaceful and law-abiding lot. He wanted to be certain
that by refusing to accept registration under the Asiatic law they did not
transgress the moral code. In this matter the Archbishop of Canterbury cleared
his doubts when he proclaimed that the clergy would not sanctify marriages
with a deceased wife's sister even though such unions had been legalised by
the passage of a Bill to that effect by both Houses of Parliament. He interpreted
the step taken by His Grace as an approval of passive resistance against
any wrong committed under an enactment involving a breach of God's own
law based on truth.

This line of thought on Gandhi's part was reinforced by his study
of Henry David Thoreau, the exponent and practitioner of civil disobedience.
Nothing could move Gandhi more than his affirmation that 'we should be
men before we are subjects, and that there is no obligation imposed
upon us by our conscience to give blind submission to any law, no matter
what force or majority backs it.' He could now clearly see that the Asiatic
Registration Act was nothing but 'evil legalised'. He told his countrymen:
'Resistance to such an evil is a divine duty which no human being can
with impunity disregard and, as in the case of the Archbishop of

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Canterbury, so in that of British Indians, it is their conscience that must
decide, as it has already decided, whether to submit to the Asiatic Act or not,
cost what it may.'

Gandhi took considerable pains to acquaint the readers of Indian
Opinion with Thoreau's life and work, bringing into focus his role in the
movement for abolition of slavery in the U.S.A. Thoreau had not rested content
with speaking and writing against this evil. His refusal to pay taxes to the
state in which slave trade was carried on and his imprisonment therefor may
not have caused a stir in his country, but by doing so he had established a
new model of political demonstration. What he wrote in justification of his
action under the title 'Civil Disobedience', though ignored for some time,
gradually became a powerful influence on activists engaged in various types
of struggle. Some of his ideas which appealed to Gandhi were: it is not as
important to cultivate respect for the law as for the right; one may not be able
to eradicate a wrong wherever one finds it, but it is one's duty, at least, not to
lend it one's support; under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true
place for an upright person is a prison; it is disgraceful to submit to a tyrannical
state. Gandhi's interest in Thoreau was by no means transient. Many a time,
whenever faced with a dilemma, he would turn to this guru.

in order to prepare his people to act without fear in crisis, Gandhi
would continually place before them notable instances in which techniques
approximating to passive resistance had been, or were being, employed
elsewhere to fight against tyranny. One important case was that of the
Irish nationalist movement, called Sinn Fein, which corresponded to the
Swadeshi movement in India. Another case was that of the successful
Hungarian struggle against Austrian rule. The point he was trying to drive
home was: '... none can imprison thousands of men or deport them. But
every Indian ought to be prepared to be imprisoned or deported; and to prove
that Indians are so ready, some of them shall indeed have to suffer
imprisonment, even deportation. The Indian who may be called upon to suffer
deportation or imprisonment will be said to have truly lived and won the battle
of life. His name will be immortal, and he will have fully met the claim of the
motherland on him.'

Gandhi was not alone. He was able to enthuse many others, some
of whom later came to constitute the vanguard of the struggle. The
Hamidiya Islamic Society had played an active role in fostering the spirit
of relentless fight. Moulvi Syed Ahmed Mukhtiar's fiery speeches, laced
with verses from the Holy Koran, made the Muslim mind realise that
submission to the hated Registration Law would mean betrayal of the
Almighty in whose name the oath for disregarding it had been taken.
Pandit Rama Sundara, the founder of the Sanatan Dharma Sabha, had
a similar role to play amongst the Johannesburg Hindus. Gradually most
Indians started feeling that those believing in God as Creator could not
submit to an Act which by taking away their personal liberty reduced
them to puppets in mortal hands.

PASSIVE RESISTANCE

235

A good part of Gandhi’s strength lay in the support he had received for
the Indian cause from a fairly large number of European colonists. One person
amongst them for whom Gandhi had developed special personal regard was
Hermann Kallenbach, a prosperous German architect based at Johannesburg.
They were drawn to each other because of their transmundane interests.
Kallenbach lived elegantly in keeping with his affluence and social standing.
When he had had his fill of the good things of life he began to feel an emptiness
which he was able to get over only after he came under Gandhi's influence.
As a consequence he also acquired a fascination for austerity. His indifference
towards political affairs in general too gave way to deep interest in the Indian
community's struggle against the Transvaal Government's anti-Asiatic policy.
Even before the Black Act came into force from July 1 ,1907, Kallenbach had
said in a letter written by him to The Star.'... I shall consider it a privilege to
visit my Indian friends in the gaol and to do my utmost to redress the hardships
of prison life which they are prepared to undergo...' Gandhi's immediate reaction
to this letter was: 'If already men like Mr. Kallenbach have come forward to
express their sympathy even though we have nothing to show by way of
action, many more will do so when we actually do something.'

The first Indian to be arrested (on November 8, 1907) under the
Asiatic Law Amendment Act was Pandit Rama Sundara. He had come to
the Transvaal on a temporary permit which was getting renewed until the
Asiatic Department refused further extension on grounds of his active
participation in picketing the Permit Office. When the case came up for
trial, Gandhi appeared as his defence counsel. The court that day was
packed with Indian spectators. Gandhi spared no effort to put the occasion
to maximum use for promoting the resistance movement. The accused
was mentally prepared for conviction and asserted that he had acted in
obedience to the call of duty from heaven. He was sentenced to one
month's imprisonment. All eyes were focused on the Pandit. He had kept
his spirits high. Everyone looked upon him as a hero. It was a great day
for Indians. The Asiatic Department which had hoped that the end result
of the trial would act as a deterrent, felt disappointed. Later, it was to be
as much of a disappointment to Gandhi and other patriotic Indians
because Pandit Rama Sundara did not turn out to be a strong-willed
person. The jail authorities had treated him well. A lot of indulgence had
been shown to him by his Indian brethren. And yet he found prison life
irksome. After his release he hastily left the Colony along with his family.
Gandhi felt very unhappy about it. Many years later he judged this 'false
coin' differently: 'Although Rama Sundara fled away, who can tell how he
might have repented of his weakness? Or rather was not his very flight a
powerful proof of his repentance? There was no need for him to flee if he
was shameless. He could have taken out a permit and steered clear of
jail by submission to the Black Act. Further, if at all so minded, he could
have become a tool of the Asiatic Department, misguided his friends and
become persona grata with the Government. Why should we not judge

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

him charitably and say that instead of doing anything of the kind, he being
ashamed of his weakness hid his face from the community and even did it
a service?'

The case of Rama Sundara was that of an ordinary man lofted by the
force of circumstances to a height which he could not cope with. Rather than
bend before the law and live brazenly among his brethren, he thought it proper
to withdraw from the scene. There were others, including a few counted among
the leaders, who had earlier shown much bravado, but now when it came to
the crunch chose to take the title deeds of slavery on the quiet. Such blacklegs
exposed themselves to great contempt within the Indian community. Apart
from the social stigma, displeasure on the part of their countrymen adversely
affected their trade. The names of prominent persons among them were
published in the Indian Opinion which added to their ignominy. There can be
no movement without some defectors. The measure of success achieved by
the T ransvaal passive resisters in the early months of their compaign can be
gauged from the fact that up to the end of November 1 907, out of the estimated
number of 9,000 eligible persons 545 had come up for registration. Surprisingly
a sizeable number among them were from Pretoria, a place which in the
beginning had earned much praise.

Everyone expected that in the month of December the Government
was going to get tougher. The first three weeks passed without much heat.
On reviewing the situation, Gandhi felt that the administration might show its
strength in January 1908. He anticipated that the Government would not
allow renewal of licenses on expiry without the applicants producing the new
registration certificates. The question was: what should the traders do in that
case? Gandhi's simple solution to that was: they should trade without license;
if arrested and fined, they should not pay the fines but go to jail instead. Jail¬
going, in his view, was the only unfailing remedy. All his energies were now
directed towards preparing the people for this new phase of resistance.

By this time an increasing number of newspapers in the sub-continent
had come to look at the Asiatic problem more feelingly. The Indians' passive
resistance was a tempting subject for the cartoonists, in one of the cartoons
Gandhi was shown wearing a spiked armour with a notice: TOUCH ME
NOT. Below it was Gandhi's signature with the salutation: 'Yours passively.'
What was passive about it when touching any part of his body would give
sharp pricks? It was the Government that had to move to deal with him
under law, which when pricked with the thorns of passive resistance, would
lose all its bite.

AS A LAW STUDENT IN LONDON.

AS A BARRISTER IN SOUTH AFRICA.

AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS, 1894

AS A SERGEANT-MAJOR OF THE AMBULANCE CORPS DURING THE ZULU REBELLION, 1906

WITH MISS SCHLESIN AND KALLENBACH, 1913

WITH C.F. ANDREWS AND W.W. PEARSON

WITH KASTURBAIN 1913

AS A LEADER OF THE LAST SATYAGRAHA CAMPAIGN IN SOUTH AFRICA, 1913

SATYAGRAHA

Immediately after Christmas, things started moving fast. On
December 26, 1907, the Immigration Restriction Act also received royal
assent and the following day it was gazetted by the T ransvaai Government.
Now it had three weapons in its armoury — imprisonment, stoppage of
trade licenses and deportation. On December 27 itself, Gandhi received a
telephone message from the Commissioner of Police, asking him to call
at the Marlborough House. On his arrival he was informed that he and
twenty-four others, including Leung Quinn,* were to be arrested. Gandhi
gave his word that all of them would appear before the respective
magistrates at ten o’clock the next morning. The Police Chief was good
enough to accept his assurance. The persons to be prosecuted included
twelve in Pretoria and nine in Johannesburg.

The same evening, Gandhi addressed a general meeting at Vrdedorp
attended by about a thousand people. On this occasion, he was hard as a
nether millstone. Referring to the Immigration Restriction Act having been
endorsed by the Imperial Government, he observed that Lord Elgin had put
an undue strain on Indian loyalty and had thus sown the seeds of disaffection.
Every time he alluded to the new Act he could not hold himself back from
castigating the colonial regime. He was just not able to reconcile himself to
the fact that the rulers who dared call themselves Christian shouid have
framed such a barbarous Act: 'If Jesus Christ came to Johannesburg and
Pretoria and examined the hearts of General Botha, General Smuts and
the others, ... he would notice something strange, something quite strange
to the Christian spirit.'

Sharp at 10 a.m. on December 28 (Saturday), Gandhi and his
associates attended the respective courts. They were asked whether they
held the registration certificates as required under the law. On receiving
replies in the negative, the police promptly prosecuted them. At Johannesburg,
Gandhi was the first one to be tried in the court of H.H. Jordan. Otherwise
a respected practising lawyer, he was now on charge as an accused. This
was his first trial in a court of law. He expected that the magistrate would

* The Transvaal had experienced serious shortage of labour during the years following
the Anglo-Boer War. To get the gold mines back in production, Milner felt compelled to
import indentured labourers from China. By 1906 this Colony had about 50,000 Chinese
workers. Mr. Leung Quinn, Chairman of the Cantonese Club, was the leading figure of
the Chinese community.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

allow him to explain why he had not submitted himself to registration. So he
went into the witness-box, prepared to make a statement. The moment he
started speaking, the magistrate interrupted: 'I don't think that has anything
to do with the case. The law is there, and you have disobeyed it. I don't want
any political speeches to be made.'

Gandhi: I don't want to make any political speech.

Magistrate: The question is, have you registered or not? If you
have not registered, that is the end of the matter. All I
have to do and all I can do is to administer the law as
it stands.

Gandhi at this stage did not want to say anything in extenuation. The
magistrate went on to add: 'All I have to deal with is legal evidence. What you
want to say, I suppose, is that you do not approve of the law and you
conscientiously resist it.'

Gandhi: This is perfectly true.

Magistrate: I will take the evidence if you say you conscientiously

object.

When Gandhi proceeded to make his statement, the magistrate again
interrupted: 'I do not see how that affects the case.'

Gandhi: I said that before. I simply sought the indulgence of

the court for five minutes.

Magistrate: I don't think this is a case in which the court should
grant any indulgence. You have defied the law.

Gandhi: Very well, Sir, then I have nothing to say.

The Prosecuting Officer argued that all these people had been allowed
ample time to apply for registration. The accused, according to him, appeared to
have no intention to register. He, therefore, pressed for an order that he should
leave the country within 48 hours. The magistrate was not inclined to be that
harsh and would have given more time. But he made it clear that the minimum
sentence, if the order was not complied with, was one month with or without hard
labour; and if the offenders were found in the Colony seven days after expiry of
the given time, they would be liable to very severe punishment. He expressed the
hope that the Asiatics would have the common sense to realise that they could
not trifle with the Government: 'If they did, they would find that when an individual
set himself up against the will of the State, the State was stronger than the
individual, and the individual suffered and not the State.'

Gandhi, interrupting the magistrate at this moment, asked him to
make the order for 48 hours; if it could be shorter he would be happier. The
magistrate put his back up and said: 'If that is the case, I should be the

SATYAGRAHA

239

last person to disappoint you. Leave the Colony within forty-eight hours.
That's my order.'

The remaining accused were similarly tried, with Gandhi acting as their
defence counsel. They were also ordered by the court to leave the Transvaal
within two to fourteen days. On conclusion of the court proceedings, Gandhi
addressed a large gathering of Asians in Government Square. There were some
whites too. The main part of his speech was in Hindustani. At the end he spoke
a few words in English meant for the Europeans present there, enunciating the
sanctity he attached to the struggle in which he and his countrymen were
engaged. He stood for a fight to the bitter end, he asserted, and they would
leave the Colony, rather than lose their self-respect by staying on as slaves.

Similar meetings were held in several other towns. In fact, such
gatherings served as the most important means of mobilization and hundreds
of people participating in them reaffirmed their determination to face
imprisonment and deportation rather than submit to tyranny. On December
30, Gandhi was invited to address a separate meeting convened at
Johannesburg by the Chinese Association to thank him for his services to
the Asian communities at this critical time. He spoke feelingly on this occasion
about how irreligious on their part it would be to degrade themselves in order
that they might be able to earn their livelihood in the T ransvaal.

***

General Smuts had chosen the line of action he was pursuing in relation
to the Asiatic problem after careful deliberation. He had consulted Lord
Selborne who himself was perplexed by the form the Indian struggle had
assumed. What worried him was the effect Gandhi's movement would have
on the thinking of the so-called coloureds and the educated among the African
blacks. He did not want the disregard for established law to be countenanced
under any circumstances. He considered the orientals, 'of all people in the
world, the worst to run away from' and was sure enough opposed, to any
move towards repealing the Registration Act, though he also believed that
there were some inessential features of the Act which were open to objection
on conscientious grounds. For example, finger-printing as a mode of
identification of the immigrants could be dispensed with if the same object
could be achieved equally well by some other means. In short, he was in
favour of compromise, if somehow it could be arrived at without prejudicing
the Government's prestige.

General Smuts was aware that the advice tendered to him was not
pointless. He must have also known that Gandhi was not averse to extending
the hand of friendship on reasonable terms. In an interview to a special
correspondent of The Transvaal Leader on January 5, 1908, the latter had
clearly spelt out how the dispute could be settled. According to him, the
Indians were ready to accept a system of identifying those who were
entitled to remain in the Colony. For this purpose he proposed that

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

the Immigration Restriction Act should be amended to embody the necessary
clauses for identification. If this was done and the Asiatic Law Amendment
Act withdrawn, the Government would have all that they needed without putting
the Indians to unnecessary humiliation. One important implication of this
offer was that Indians had come to terms with the Transvaal Government's
right to limit the number of immigrants in future as provided for in the new
Immigration Law and their resistance movement was solely directed against
the Registration Act. About the latter enactment too, they were prepared to
accept the principle of fool-proof identification of the authorized settlers. What
more did the Transvaal Government require?

Smuts was obsessed by a feeling that in the first instance he must
uphold the authority of law. The overwhelming majority of Indians had refused
to comply with the statutory requirement of fresh registration. He had the
legal power to deport them or put them into jail, though he was not sure if he
could go along this course to the extreme end, and if he did so what its
consequence would be. What would happen to the women and children if the
bread-winners were sent to prison? After considering all the pros and cons,
he had decided to strike at the head and see what happened. It meant going
against Lord Selborne's advice that 'manufacture of martyrs in any degree'
would not be advisable. Smuts had, somehow, gained an impression that if
legal action was taken against the more ardent activists the others would most
likely conform to the law. This, in fact, was the genesis of the proceedings
initiated on December 28, 1 907 and he wanted this line of action to be followed
to its logical conclusion. In the list of 25 persons brought within its purview,
most of the leading businessmen had been left out in the hope that with active
picketing gone, the trading class would change its mind, failing which it could
be put to further pressure by withholding the renewal of licenses.

The Government had not moved as fast as was warranted by the
court order for Gandhi to leave the Transvaal within 48 hours. The extra
time he got on that account was put to good use for giving greater publicity
to the Indian case. He made it clear repeatedly that his countrymen
could not reconcile themselves to the various elements of compulsion to
which they were put by the Asiatic Registration Act. He also reiterated
that they would be prepared for voluntary registration if the Act was
suspended in the first instance and then withdrawn. But General Smuts
had no intention to act graciously. This was the beginning of the seemingly
unequal fight between David and Goliath which was to last over six years.
One had gradually emerged as an authentic spokesman of the Indian
community. He was essentially a man of peace but ever ready to fight
by way of non-violent resistance when he felt certain that truth and justice
were on his side. The other was one of the much-admired heroes of the
Boer War. He had now become a staunch defender of white supremacy
in the Transvaal.

***

SATYAGRAHA

241

On the morning of January 1 0, 1 908, Gandhi and his associates, who
were under orders to leave the Colony, were to attend the respective
courts. At Johannesburg, postponement of the proceedings to the afternoon
provided Gandhi the opportunity to address an impromptu general meeting
arranged at short notice on the Mosque grounds in the Newtown area. In
delivering this parting speech, he got into an inspired mood. One point on
which he laid great emphasis:

... It is not a question of giving a wife's name or a mother's name,
or giving one thumb-impression or ten fingerprints, although all
these things are undoubtedly to be considered .., but the sting lies
in the underlying spirit of the Act. What we see is that by reason of
false dignity the Government would not have what we are prepared
to give freely, but wants to compel us to give it as if we are slaves.

Saying so, he recalled an incident that happened when along with Ally on
his voyage to England he met a gentleman on board. During their
conversation, the latter after listening to Gandhi had said: 'I see you are
going to London in order to get rid of the dog's collar.' This remark had
reflected a cruel reality. There was also a sentiment behind it. Recognizing
this, Gandhi asserted: '... but it is a noble sentiment, to be cherished as a
religious sentiment, a sentiment that binds people together, a sentiment
that binds creatures to the Creator.' Gandhi was prepared for the worst and
he wanted his brethren not to be deflected by any threats from the course
of action they had embarked upon. He was sure that if the Indians persevered
they would certainly achieve what they had aimed at: 'It does not matter
what General Smuts thinks today, but it will matter what he thinks a month
hence, when we have shown that we are men. I do not have the slightest
doubt that General Smuts has sufficient humanity in him to recognize our
sincerity of purpose; and if we show to him that the majority of Indians are
not going to accept the Act, but would rather suffer imprisonment, then
General Smuts, without anybody going to him, would say, "Yes, these are
the people whom I shall prize as fellow citizens." ...'Such exhortations had
an electric effect on the people who had put their faith in Gandhi, particularly
among the indigent sections of the community.

In the afternoon, before the appointed hour for trial, the eastern side of
Government Square was thronged by a large mass of Indians getting wet
under a gentle drizzle. When Gandhi arrived there, he was surrounded by
several admirers trying to shelter him under their umbrellas. The magistrate,
H.H. Jordan, was also seen passing through the crowd, with his face flushed
through a surge of emotion. He must have known that he was going to decide
a case of historic importance. When the observers' lobby was all full, further
admission was stopped. With some people still trying to barge in, there was
a disturbance outside the court. To bring it under control, the police had to
intervene in adequate strength and make some arrests.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Meanwhile the magistrate had entered the court-room. Mr. M.K. Gandhi
was the first one to be called. Initially he felt a little awkward appearing as an
accused in the court where he had often acted as counsel. He was none the
less conscious of the elevating effect of the present role. He pleaded guilty
straightaway. He had no questions to put, when the Prosecution presented
the case against him. But he asked for leave to make a short statement. On
the magistrate turning a willing ear, he urged the court to make a distinction
between his trial and the cases of others prosecuted along with him. The
latter, he argued, were guilty of a lesser crime. He referred to a message that
he had just received from Pretoria, according to which his associates tried
there had been awarded three months' imprisonment with hard labour. Their
punishment also included heavy fines in place of which they would have to
undergo a further period of three months' rigorous imprisonment. Since he
himself had committed a more serious offence, he asked the court to impose
on him the maximum penalty. The magistrate, not feeling disposed to accede
to the desire expressed by Gandhi, awarded him two months' imprisonment
without hard labour.

After the judgment was pronounced, Gandhi was taken to the
custody room. The first thoughts that passed his mind as a prisoner were
later recounted by him: '! was somewhat agitated and fell into deep thought.
Home, the courts where I practised, the public meeting — all these passed
away like a dream, and I was now a prisoner. What would happen in two
months? Would I have to serve the full term? If the people courted
imprisonment in large numbers, as they had promised, there would be no
question of serving the full sentence. But if they failed to fill the prisons,
two months would be as tedious as an age.' All at once a sense of remorse
descended on him for having allowed himself to indulge in such negative
thinking which did not behove one 'who had asked the people to consider
the prisons as His Majesty's hotels, the suffering consequent upon
disobeying the Black Act as perfect bliss, and the sacrifice of one's all
and of life itself in resisting it as supreme enjoyment!' As he pulled himself
up, in no time he was his normal seif. Soon a police officer came and
escorted him to the prison van that carried him to Johannesburg jail on
the quiet, bypassing the crowd that was waiting outside.

Gandhi's removal from the court as a prisoner could scarcely have
surprised the Indians who had gathered outside the court. So as to exhibit
their determination to carry on with the movement, holding black flags in
their hands they took out a procession. Knowing that the Government
meant business, the police did not hesitate to be rough with the agitated
processionists. Some of them were mercilessly battered. The Indians,
however, remained unshaken. Ironically, Gandhi's erstwhile detractor C.
M. Pillay was among the first batch of prisoners lodged in the fort jail.
Four days later, Thambi Naidoo, the chief picket and one of the most
ardent fighters, as well as Leung Quinn, leader of the Chinese community,
joined them. Within a week, the number of persons who had courted

SATYAGRAHA

243

imprisonment at different places was more than a hundred, many of
them hawkers. Of course, it was contrary to Smuts' intention of not striking
at the tail. Once the campaign had gathered momentum, matters moved
rapidly and the Transvaal administration could no more limit the prosecu¬
tions to a few leaders only.

***

William Hosken, a prominent member of the Transvaal Parliament,
deeply interested in the Asiatic problem and personally free from racial
prejudice, had on one occasion described the Indian passive resistance as a
'weapon of the weak.' Gandhi, not happy with this comment, cut in sharply:
'No, that's not so. On the contrary, it is an expression of soul-force.' Hosken's
remark had, however, touched a tender spot in Gandhi's heart. He felt troubled
by the fact that the term passive resistance did not precisely describe the
type of struggle he had visualized. He was, therefore, in search of a more
appropriate Indian name for his movement. The Indian Opinion of December
28,1907 featured a note from him inviting the readers to suggest Gujarati,
Urdu or Sanskrit equivalents that encompassed the English terms 'passive
resistance' and 'civil disobedience.' The person who proposed the most
appropriate words was to be honoured with a prize. In response to this request,
Maganlal Gandhi came up with the compound word sadagraha {sat meaning
a good cause and agraha meaning determined opposition) to be employed in
place of passive resistance. Gandhi modified it slightly to make it satyagraha,
which gradually acquired a meaning in keeping 'with the nature of the
campaigns launched under this banner-head.* The Indian resistance
movement, after this baptism, unmistakably reflected an added moral content
and a larger degree of dynamism.

The thought-process underlying the reshaping of the Transvaal Indian
struggle in the latter half of 1 906 and subsequent years had arisen in Gandhi's
mind much earlier. Strangely, no sooner had a major change in Its character
been signalled by the solemn oath taken at a mass meeting in Johannesburg
on September 11, 1906, than the appeilation ’passive resistance' came into
use in South Africa at the instance of a local English newspaper. Even then Gandhi
used this term very sparingly. But when the Black Act actually came into force
from July 1 , 1907, he started explaining his perspectives on passive resistance
including its ethical aspect, effectiveness and legitimacy. It was during its
practical application that he realised the inadequacy of this name for the kind of
movement he was aiming at. This was the time when satyagraha, a term more free

* The term satyagraha which meant ’firmness in a good cause’, ana with the passage of
time acquired a very powerful meaning, had not been adopted by Gandhi without hesita¬
tion. His precise comment was: Though the phrase does not exhaust the connotation of
the word "passive", we shall use satyagraha till a word is available which deserves the
prize.’ CWMG, Vol. VIII, p. 23.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

from the taint of a certain suggestion of feebleness implicit in the term 'passive
resistance,' came into being. Later he reminisced: 'Indeed when it was born,
! myself could not say what it was.'

Whether during the period before passive resistance was rechristened
as satyagraha or thereafter, to Gandhi the adjective 'passive' had meant nothing
but 'non-violent.' But what he was able to convey by the new denomination
was more than mere non-violent resistance. It covered in equal measure the
worthiness of ends as well as means. It sought to fight for truth, not by violent
action against the agents of evil, but through suffering and endurance. The
two great principles on which satyagraha was based were the law of Truth
and the law of Love, both Truth and Love viewed in the widest sense. Truth,
apart from other things, covered equity and justice. Love did not in any way
preclude resistance against evil to the bi tter end . The eyes of the oppressor,
incapable of seeing reason, were to be opened by the suffering of the
satyagrahis who fearlessly strove to reach their adversary's thinking through
his heart. The ultimate truth was, as it were, to be resurrected through infinite
love with God's own help. Gandhi's apocalyptic comment on satyagraha was
made a couple of days before his first term as a prisoner in Johannesburg:
'.As I write this I seem to hear it whispered in my ear that God is always the
friend and protector of truth.'

***

Gandhi's first spell in jail was not quite like taking the wraps off a
prized gift. If had some unpleasant features acceptance of which, to start
with, was not so easy. His disappointment was serious when he learnt that
he and his associates were not going to receive special treatment as political
prisoners. On reaching the reception room of the jail, they were first weighed
whereafter their finger-impressions were taken. Then they were made to
undress themselves and put on the prison clothing. It comprised an oversize
coarse jacket over a shirt and short trousers with a puny little head-cover, not
very different from the one which later became known as Gandhi cap. They
got thick grey socks and closed leather sandals. Before they were marched
off to the ward earmarked for them, they were each given eight ounces of
bread for their evening meal.

In the Transvaal, the prisons also were administered on racist lines.
There were two classes of convicts - the whites and the blacks. In the
quarters earmarked for the latter, there was one ward normally used
for coloured persons imprisoned for civil offences. Gandhi and his co¬
prisoners were kept there. This hutment had walls of galvanized iron sheets
with small apertures through which the jailers could watch the inmates
while remaining unobserved themselves. At this stage, the place had
sufficient space for the number of persons put up there. But it was noisy
on account of what happened among some of the rowdies in the

SATYAGRAHA

245

adjoining wards. There was lack of proper ventilation. The light fitted
was not good enough for reading. The electric light was turned off at 8
p.m. During the night it would be suddenly switched on whenever the
warder came on his round. Gandhi, sensitive to light by nature, hated
this practice. The beds provided were nothing more than wooden planks
fixed to three-inch-high supports. Each prisoner had one coir mat, two
blankets, a small pillow, one coarse towel and a wooden spoon. Later,
at Gandhi's special request, a table and two small benches were placed
in the room for writing purposes.

In front of the ward there was a small courtyard where the
prisoners could move about a little during the day. For a few days
this space was put to use for morning and evening P.T. drill, introduced
at the prisoners' initiative but stopped when the number of inmates
grew too large. The bath, latrines and urinals also located in this
enclosure, were the humblest possible with no privacy whatsoever. It
was some time before the prisoners could overcome their
embarrassment while using these conveniences.

The jail routine had a touch of military discipline. The prisoners
were locked up at 5.30 p.m. They were free to read and converse up to
8 o'clock which was the time fixed for going to bed. Talking among
prisoners after eight was strictly prohibited. As they were not allowed to
come out at night, a bucket of water was made available inside. Another
bucket placed there was meant to be used as a chamber-pot. In the
morning they were required to get up at 5.30.

There was a regulation according to which every convict sentenced
to an imprisonment for two months or more must have his hair cropped
close and the moustache shaved off. This rule was not strictly enforced in
the case of Indians. If a person objected, his moustache was spared.
Gandhi felt that under the circumstances of prison life it was difficult for a
prisoner to keep his hair and moustache tidy. He, therefore, went out of
his way to tell the Chief Warder that he would like to comply with the
normal rule. The official tried to evade it and gave Gandhi an impression
that the authorities did not want to put this stamp of incarceration on him.
But he was not prepared to take 'no' for an answer. Ultimately the Jail
Superintendent felt obliged to have clippers and a pair of scissors issued.
One of the prisoners, P.K. Naidoo, knew the art of haircutting. Gandhi
himself acted as an amateur barber. There was no dearth of persons who
liked to take advantage of their services.

The jail officials came to inspect the prison-house a number of times
every day. When an officer approached, the prisoners were ordered to line
up. The usual military word of command 'fall in' was used for this purpose. On
hearing it, the prisoners would take position and stand to attention. As the
official passed by, the prisoners would take off their caps and salute. One of
these officials was more strict than others. The Indian prisoners, joking between
them, referred to him as General Smuts.

246

GANDHI - ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

In the beginning there were only five satyagraha prisoners in the
fort jail. Within a week there were twenty-one of them. By January 22 the
number had grown to 132 and the available space was not enough to
accommodate them and twenty-three others who joined them subsequently.
Some tents were pitched to increase the capacity of the prison, with the
result that the prisoners had little space left in the yard to move about.
The position in other jails was no better. By the end of January, over 200
Asians, the overwhelming majority of them Indian, had been sentenced to
varying terms of imprisonment.

The problem that bothered the satyagraha prisoners most was that of
dietary adjustment. Mealie pap, the African prisoners' staple, was served to
Indians also as a major part of the morning and evening meals. This item of
food did not suit their taste or digestion. They also missed the important
ingredient of condiments. The prisoners who came in first had decided to
carry on with whatever diet was provided. But among those who joined them
later a few persons plainly refused to eat mealie pap. Seeing them starve,
Gandhi could not remain quiet. Representations to the local officials were of
no avail. He, therefore, addressed a petition to the Director of Prisons. This
effort ultimately brought in some change in the jail diet for Indians. They were
also given permission to cook their own food. The Chinese prisoners' food
problem was even worse. Gandhi arranged for another petition to be submitted
to the Jail Superintendent on their behalf and it resulted in an order that they
should also get the same food as Indians.

One feature of the prison management that Gandhi heartily commended
was the close attention given to sanitation. The floor of the ward as well as
the bathroom was washed with disinfectant fluid every day. The cleaning of
commodes was given good care. Many a time, Gandhi himself washed
them out.

As the days passed, Gandhi began to find a new joy in prison life.
Free from distractions, he had plenty of time for reading. He studied Plato,
Bacon and Carlyle during this period. He also undertook the translation of
Ruskin's Unto This Last into Gujarati. The Bhagavad Gita, the Koran and the
Bible helped him a great deal to enliven his inner self and keep its divine
flame burning.

COMPROMISE AND ITS AFTERMATH

General Smuts' expectation that stringent action against some of
the leaders would cripple the Indian movement, did not come true. As
was inevitable, there were protests in India as well as in England against
the incarceration of satyagrahis. So was there criticism from a section
of the South African Press. Sir Richard Solomon, who was at this time
the Transvaal Government's Agent-General in London, could assess the
situation better. He was in touch with the comments of the British Press.
He also knew how the Government of India felt about the matter. He
wrote to Smuts:

You have great strength and I am sure you will use it wisely with
every regard for the feelings of these unfortunate Asiatics, keeping
only in view the main object of the law ... I can't help thinking that
it might have been toned down a bit without affecting its main
object, but it was initiated and drafted by officials (Lionel Curtis,
etc.) who, though very clever, do not understand human nature.

Winston Churchill, Under-Secretary of State for Colonies, too
thought on similar lines and was keen that the Asiatic Law Amendment
Act should be suitably altered or administered in a manner which would
enable the Asians to feel more at ease. His views had been conveyed to
General Smuts through Solomon.

Even John Xavier Merriman, the father figure of Cape politics, but no
friend of non-whites, had tried to dissuade Smuts from going ahead with
enforcement of some of the obnoxious provisions of the legislation in question:
’...If you persist, as you are entitled to do, you will succeed, but I much fear
that you will alienate the bulk of liberal opinion in England, you will give the
Imperial government a ... serious blow in her most vital part — India, and you
will above all furnish a pretext for a great deal of mischievous interference in
native matters in the future...'

Such pressure for a conciliatory approach to the problem apart,
Smuts himself realised that the Indian resistance movement was not likely
to crumble and, therefore, it would be wise on his part to go in for a
compromise. So when Gandhi's friend Albert Cartwright, editor of The
Transvaal Leader, a Pressman as well-intentioned as able, known for his
support to the Indian cause, went to Smuts and offered himself for

248

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

mediation, the General must have welcomed it. The all-powerful Minister
explained to him how far he could possibly go. When Cartwright talked to
the Indian leaders, who had not yet been arrested, they told him that
Gandhi was the man he should contact. The latter had been in jail for
about ten days when the angel of peace met him and tried to gauge what
kind of compromise would be acceptable to the Indian community. On his
next visit, he carried with him the terms of settlement set out in the form
of a draft letter (meant to be addressed by leaders of the satyagraha
campaign to the Colonial Secretary) which presumably had been approved
by Smuts. The substance of the proposed settlement was: the Asians
would get themselves registered voluntarily without reference to any law;
in this process the registration officials would not press for any information
which offended the applicants' religious sentiment; they would have
discretion to dispense with the fingerprint requirement in the case of those
who could be easily identified otherwise with the help of a signature; and
if the majority of Indians underwent voluntary registration, the Government
would take steps to legalize it. Gandhi suggested some alterations in the
draft letter. Although initially Cartwright had some reservations regarding
the proposed changes, he eventually agreed to have further consultation
with Smuts. So he continued the effort, using all his powers of patience
and persuasion, and ultimately succeeded in getting both the parties round
to a modus vivendi that could form the basis of a compromise.

Gandhi had to view the matter in the light of some important
developments in the preceding six months. The torch lighted on September
11,1 906, the day the jail-going resolution was passed at Johannesburg by
about 3,000 Indians in the form of a solemn oath, was getting dim. This fact
had become clear when, in July 1907, no less a person than Haji OjerAlly,
who had paired with Gandhi on the mission to London, thought it proper to
communicate with Syed Ameer Ali, a member of the SABIC in London,
expressing his opposition to Gandhi's persistent campaign against the Asiatic
Registration Act and arguing that this movement was going to ruin 'thousands
of my co-religionists who are all traders while the Hindus are mostly hawkers.'
The London Committee, concluding from this letter that there were differences
among the T ransvaal Indian leaders, advised them not to take their struggle
to the point of the participants having to go to jail. In a small way, this was
Gandhi's first contact with the Hindu-Muslim question which in his later years
was to be the most formidable challenge of his political life. True to his innate
character, instead of dealing with the matter covertly, he brought it into the
open. He was clear in his mind that the passive resistance campaign, as
originally conceived, was intended to protect the status and material interests
of the well-to-do merchants, though ultimately its outcome was going to
affect equally the high and the low, no matter whether they were Muslims or
Hindus. He wanted all of them to march further on hand-in-hand. Even while
condemning Mr. Ally's action, he spared no effort to see that the commercial
elite remained in the forefront. Anyhow, before the end of August 1907,

COMPROMISE AND ITS AFTERMATH

249

Haji Ojer Ally, who did not like to submit to the much-hated registration law
and yet did not possess the strength to go to jail, had left for the Cape along
with his family. The passive resistance movement suffered another blow when
in December 1 907, Haji Habib decided to leave the T ransvaal and settle down
in Durban, though he did not completely dissociate himself from the campaign.
These two happenings were very conspicuous symptoms of a deep-rooted
fear among many members of the Indian business community that the way
the movement was proceeding it was going to result in a disaster. This very
fear had compelled some of the merchants to furtively go in for registration.
All this must have been part of Gandhi's thinking when the new lot of prisoners
brought with them disheartening reports according to which most people had
lost courage and the leaders outside wanted him to bring about some form of
accord as early as possible. So he was eager to reach a workable arrangement
before elderly and respectable businessmen were also shoved into jails.
Nonetheless, Gandhi was in no doubt about the fact that the Indian
community's demand for the Black Act to be repealed was irrevocable. On
this point, however, the draft letter placed before him by Cartwright was not
only vague but also left room for the Government to adopt whatever method
was convenient for it to legalize voluntary registration. Even after the
modifications Gandhi had suggested, the demand put forward was: to all
those who registered themselves voluntarily 'the Act be not applied .' Nothing
more than that was immediately possible. Gandhi allowed himself to be
influenced by Cartwright’s optimistic note: 'I can assure you that if you all
undergo re-registration, the Black Act is bound to be repealed.'

The letter of January 28, 1 908 to which Gandhi and two of his associates,
Leung Quinn and Thambi Naidoo, put their signatures was a masterpiece of
diplomatic communication from the Government's point of view. Even while it
was meant to herald some concession to the Asiatic community, it was
couched in the form of an humble petition so that the compromise should not
involve the Government getting down from its high horse. Para 2 of this letter,
though innocent in its appearance, had some serious implications:

Our opposition has never been directed so much against the
finger-print requirements of the Regulations under the Act — in
so far as such fingerprints were deemed necessary for the
identification of Asiatics who could not very well be otherwise
identified — as against the element of compulsion contained in
the Act itself. On that ground we have repeatedly offered to undergo
voluntary registration if the Act is repealed. And even now at this
late hour we would urge on the Government the adoption as far
as possible of the course more than once proposed by us.

The words 'as far as possible' in the last sentence left ample room for
the Government to proceed the way it liked after arriving at the compromise.

250

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The Government was in any event left free to demand fingerprints from those
who in its opinion 'could not very well be otherwise identified.' Even earlier,
Gandhi in some of his pronouncements had been flexible about the question
of fingerprints, losing sight of the fact that precisely on this issue the
Government's position was indefensible and it was under pressure from all
sides to modify the regulation. If he had remained firm on this point, Smuts
would have been obliged to back down on it and come round to acceptance
of simple thumb-impressions as an adequate means of identifying a person
who could not affix his signature. Somehow, Gandhi chose to be soft in a
matter in which he could have been tough. He also did not keep in view how
sore some of his countrymen could be on this issue. He himself had at one
stage argued that the practice of taking ten fingerprints had been evolved for
identification of criminals and it was not possible for the Transvaal Indians to
accept the degradation involved in it. This concrete fact had left deeper
impression on the thinking of the illiterate among his countrymen than his
abstract arguments about the element of compulsion.

The reply dated January 29,1908 given by the Assistant Colonial
Secretary to Gandhi and his associates, constituting the second leg of the
compromise, was worded so cannily that it later became difficult for the
Asian community to extract from the Government what they were supposed
to have secured:

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of
yesterday's date addressed to the Colonial Secretary in which
you tender voluntary registration of ali Indians and Chinese legally
resident in the Transvaal and entitled to register. The Colonial
Secretary instructs me to say that he appreciates the wisdom of
the step you have taken in response to his repeated public
declarations that if the Asiatics in the Transvaal volunteer to register
in a body an opportunity for registration should be given them. You
have correctly set out the legal position in your letter and in default
of registration under the Act which is no longer possible after the
expiration of the notices, the Colonial Secretary can only accept
registration in a form similar to that prescribed by the Act and
subject, as regards the regulations, to the small alterations you
mention, and lay the matter before Parliament at its next session.

In the meantime the penalties of the Act will not be enforced against
those who do register, and the Colonial Secretary accepts your
assurance that you will use your influence with your compatriots
to make this registration effective and final.

***

On January 30,1908, the Superintendent of Police, J.C. Vernon,
escorted Gandhi to Pretoria to meet General Smuts. That some Indian hawkers

COMPROMISE AND ITS AFTERMATH

251

had about noon-time seen Gandhi and another person on their way to the
railway station was enough to set afloat all kind of rumours. The train carrying
Gandhi was stopped outside Pretoria and he was driven by car to the Colonial
Secretary's office. General Smuts was the true living image of perfect courtesy
as Gandhi stepped into his chamber. The General was in no hurry; nor was
he too formal. He had already accepted Gandhi's amendments to the
agreement. He congratulated him for the Indian community having remained
firm after his imprisonment. He clarified his own position by referring to the
duties devolving on him because of the office he held. He made it known to
Gandhi that amongst the Europeans it was largely Englishmen, and not so
much Boers, who wanted the enactment under dispute. The question of
repealing the Asiatic Registration Act also came up for discussion between
them. Smuts appears to have mentioned the Government's intention to repeal
the Act and go to the Parliament for this purpose. He also appears to have
talked of the possibility of bringing the entire gamut of registration under the
immigration Restriction Act. This procedure would have inevitably involved
repeal of the Black Act. The open-ended conversation on such lines with
Smuts, adept at trimming words, left an impression on Gandhi's mind that
the General had made a definite promise to follow that course. The Colonial
Secretary who had seen to it that the most guarded language was used in
both the letters which formed the basis of compromise, could not have made
an unqualified commitment pertaining to a matter which of necessity had to
go to Parliament. Anyhow, Gandhi took it that Smuts had bound himself to
abrogation of the Asiatic Law Amendment Act whereas the latter believed
that he had not made any such commitment. This misunderstanding later
became the cause of much bitterness between the Government and the
Indian community.

It was a fairly long talk that had taken place between Gandhi and
Smuts, Among other things the latter was careful enough to request the
Indian leader to see that the blacklegs were not harassed in any way. To
this Gandhi's spontaneous reply was: 'It should not be necessary for you
to make any recommendation on this point. We are convinced that they
have made a mistake; however, they are our brethren, our flesh and blood.
It cannot be the wish of any decent Indian to harass them.' They had
nothing more to discuss when Smuts went for the cabinet meeting and for
that duration Gandhi waited in another room. Late in the evening when he
again went to the Colonial Secretary, he was told that the agreement had
been approved of by the cabinet. The General's concluding remark was: 'I
hope there will be no recurrence of the trouble. I, for myself, wish to respect
the feelings of your people.1 So saying, Smuts stood up, majestically tall,
and bade good-bye with a warm smile. Wearing a puzzled look, Gandhi
asked: 'Where am ! to go?' General Smuts laughed and said: 'You are free
to go wherever you like.’

Gandhi: What about the other prisoners?

252

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Smuts: I am telephoning the concerned officials to release the
other prisoners tomorrow morning. But I must advise you
not to go in for too many meetings or demonstrations.

That'll only put the Government in an awkward position.

Gandhi: It will be necessary to hold meetings in order to explain to
the community the nature of the settlement.

Smuts: Of such meetings, you may have as many as you please.

It is sufficient that you have understood what I desire in the
matter.

It was 7 p.m. by this time. Gandhi had no money in his pocket. He
had to borrow railway fare to Johannesburg from General Smuts' secretary
As he walked out of the office, he found some Indian pickets waiting for him.
They would have liked him to spend the night in Pretoria. But he did not want
to stay back there. The important leaders were all in Johannesburg and he
was anxious to meet them without delay. He managed to catch the last train
and on reaching Johannesburg at about 9 p.m., went straight to the Chairman
of the BIA and requested him to convene a general meeting that very night.
Immediately arrangements were on for the meeting to be held in the mosque
area adjoining the Chairman's house. In the meantime, Gandhi explained the
terms of settlement to all those who were already there. Among them there
were some who were not happy about the compromise arrived at. Their
contention was that once the Indians registered voluntarily, they would have
surrendered the most powerful weapon. After that there was no guarantee
that the Black Act would be repealed. As long as this law was there, even if
it was not enforced, it would hang over their heads like the sword of Damocles.
They wanted that the Act should be repealed first and only then they should
be called upon to have themselves registered.

Gandhi had now to defend the settlement he had effected. He pointed
out that in a compromise both parties to a dispute had to make some
concessions except where a principle was involved. The principle that guided
the Indian community was not to submit to the compulsion of the Black Act
and he had stuck to it. About the apprehension that after voluntary registrations
had been made, the Black Act might not be repealed, his answer was: 'As
satyagrahis, we need not fear that the Government might fail to honour its
commitment. An implicit trust in human nature is the very essence of the
creed of satyagraha . If there is a breach of faith on Government's part, why
can't we resort to satyagraha again? Even after having registered, we can
refuse to show on demand the certificates of registration. The Government
cannot exercise control over us without our cooperation.' Arguing on these
lines, Gandhi was able to satisfy the friends who had taken a dim view of the
understanding he had arrived at with Smuts.

It was nearing the witching hour of the night when about a thousand
people were anxiously waiting by the light of hurricane lamps to hear what
Gandhi had to tell them. After explaining the terms and spirit of the

COMPROMISE AND ITS AFTERMATH

253

compromise, he spelt out the responsibility that it put on the shoulders of
the Transvaal Indians by way of voluntary registration. While asking all
those present to raise their hands as a mark of their acceptance of the
agreement, he pleaded: 'As soon as the arrangements for fresh registration
are completed, every one of us who raises his hand should take out a
certificate of registration at once, and just as many of you had volunteered
before in order to explain to our compatriots why they should not register,
even so should you now come forward to explain to the community why
they must register. And it is only when we have thus worthily fulfilled our
part that we shall reap the real fruit of our victory.'

The moment Gandhi concluded his speech, a Pathan amongst the
audience fired a volley of questions at him. His principal concern was: 'Shall
we have to give ten fingerprints under the settlement?' Gandhi could see the
signs of a storm and tried to console the questioner: 'Those who have any
conscientious objection to giving the fingerprints or consider it derogatory to
their self-respect, will not be obliged to do so.'*

'What will you do yourself?'

'I have decided to give ten fingerprints. It may not be for me not
to give them myself while advising others to do so.'

'You were writing so much about the ten fingerprints. It was you
who told us that they were required only from criminals. It was
you who said that the struggle centred round the fingerprints.

How does all that fit in with your attitude today?'

Gandhi tried to explain the difference between doing something voluntarily
and under compulsion. His abstract reasoning failed to silence the dissenters. It
appears that the very elements, who had earlier led the blacklegs to weaken the
resistance movement, were now determined to wreck the settlement. There were
also certain agents linked with some unauthorized persons who had come into the
Colony surreptitiously. They did not find it necessary to produce their permits as
long as the movement lasted and so they could carry on their clandestine trade.
Such vested interests did not want the struggle to come to an end. They were out
to exploit the fingerprints issue. They understood better than anybody else how
excitable the Pathans could be. One of them had already assaulted a fellow-lndian
for having sought and obtained registration. It was easy enough to inflame such
persons and create misgivings in their minds. How viciously these simple folk had
been misled was evidentfrom the manner in which the questioner went on to cast
aspersions on Gandhi's integrity: 'We have heard that you have betrayed the
community and sold it to General Smuts for 1 5,000 pounds. We will never give the
fingerprints, nor allow others to do so. I swear with Allah as my witness, that I will
kill the man who takes the lead in applying for registration.'

* Strictly speaking, there was no provision to this effect in the compromise arrived at.
Appar-ently Gandhi thought he would be able to persuade the Government to accept this
relaxation.

254

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Gandhi was at his best in responding to this unexpected challenge.
While making it clear that he would render all possible help to anyone who
wished to register without giving fingerprints, he made the following statement,
charged with deep emotion:

i must confess... that I do not like the threat of death which
[our] friend has held out. I also believe that one may not swear
to kill another in the name of the Most High. S ... take it, that it
is only in a momentary fit of passion that this friend has taken
the oath. However that may be, whether or not he carries out
his threat, as the principal party responsible for this settlement
and as a servant of the community, it is my clear duty to take
the lead in giving fingerprints, and I pray to God that He graciously
permit me so to do. Death is the appointed end of all life. To die
by the hand of a brother, rather than by disease or in such other
way, cannot be for me a matter for sorrow. And if even in such a
case I am free from the thoughts of anger or hatred against my
assailant, I know that that will rebound to my eternal welfare,
and even the assailant will later on realise my perfect innocence.

Strangely, as Providence would have it, exactly forty years later, on
the thirtieth of January, Gandhi's life was to be taken by 'the hand of a
brother.' On the night being talked of, it was not an ordinary challenge that
Gandhi was faced with. The problem had come like a bolt from the blue.
All at once he had mustered his inner resources to fight his way. His
encounter with the irate Pathan was followed by the President's speech.
In his own way he also explained the nature or the compromise and tried
to justify it as well as he could. The meeting concluded with a more or
less unanimous vote in favour of the settlement. But the few Pathans who
were opposed to it went back disgruntled.

It was past 1 a. m. when Gandhi reached home. Early in the morning he
had to go to the jail to attend to the release of other prisoners. He reached
there by 7 a.m. The Superintendent had already got the orders. Within an hour
all the satyagrahis were out of prison. They received a warm welcome from
their compatriots. On the whole they were all jubilant over the outcome of their
struggle. There was a series of public meetings aimed at acquainting the
community with the implications of the settlement. The numerous discussions
that took place revealed that the misunderstandings about what had happened
were not altogether superficial. During the first week of February Gandhi went
all out to win over the sceptics to his way of thinking. To those who contended
that the Indians had not lived up to their pledge, his answer was: 'An oath was
taken in September 1 906 not to submit to the law. Submission to the law was
the only issue at that time. The regulations made under it in July (1 907) did not
then exist. The Government has now promised not to apply the law to Indians
on the condition that the objective of the law should be secured by the Indians

COMPROMISE AND ITS AFTERMATH

255

themselves acting of their free will, that is, without the compulsion of the law.
This condition means voluntary registration. The Indian community has time
and again offered to register on its own. The Government has now at last
accepted the proposal and agreed not to apply the new law to those who
register voluntarily.' Gradually, most Indians came to understand the rationale
on which the compromise with the Transvaal Government was based. But the
Pathans, numbering about fifty, remained adamant.

***

After completing the arrangements for voluntary registration, the
Registrar of Asiatics notified that this work would be taken in hand at
Johannesburg from February 1 0, 1 908. The form of application and that of
the registration certificate had been modified in consultation with Gandhi.
He was keen that the leaders should take out their certificates on the first
day and, though not obliged to give fingerprints, they should offer to go
through the formality so that the others would also do that without hesitation.
Accordingly he had arranged for some of the leading persons to meet him
at his office in the morning of the appointed day. When he himself reached
there, he found Mir Alam and his companions waiting outside. Gandhi had
known this person as one of his old clients. As their eyes met, there was
no spontaneous exchange of the customary salutations. Nevertheless,
Gandhi asked him how he was, to which the latter gave a reluctant reply.
Gandhi had noticed something awkward in Mir Alam's demeanour, fraught
with evil portent. After having talked to his associates, Gandhi along with
them set out towards the Old Dutch Church shortly after 9.45 a.m. His
intention was to be the first to register. They were hardly a furlong from the
Registration Office when they met a small group of Pathans including the
tall and stout Mir Alam who accosted Gandhi to ask where he was going.
Replying calmly, Gandhi said: 'I propose to take out a certificate of
registration, giving the ten fingerprints. If you go with me, I will first get you
a certificate, with an impression only of two thumbs, and then I will take
one for myself, giving the fingerprints.' Gandhi had hardly completed his
answer when someone hit him hard on the head with a club and he at once
fell down unconscious. The only words that escaped from his mouth were:
'Hey Ram' (O God)! In falling, he banged his head and face against a jagged
stone. Mir Alam and his companions, too excited to leave him at that,
continued to bash him as he lay on the ground. Some of the blows aimed at
Gandhi were warded off by Essop Mia and Thambi Naidoo with the result
that after having knocked out the main victim, the Pathans turned their
anger on his helpers who were lucky to get away with light injuries. Mir
Alam and others with him, who had committed the outrage, tried to run
away. But some white passers-by collared the assailants and helped the
police to take them in custody.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

A young Indian who was a witness to this horrid incident ran to Gandhi's
Rissik Street office and reported the matter to Henry Poiak. The latter was
then engaged in conversation with Rev. Joseph Doke, the Baptist minister of
Grahmstown Church in Johannesburg. Both of them rushed to Van Brandi
Street. By the time they reached the site, Gandhi had been carried to a
nearby building. He had regained partial .consciousness. One of his cheeks,
his upper lip and forehead were badly injured. Having been kicked hard in the
ribs he had difficulty in breathing. One eye, though it had escaped serious
damage, was swollen. He was still looking dazed. After the doctor had rendered
first aid, someone suggested that he may be moved to the hospital. Rev.
Doke, who held Gandhi in high esteem, was touched by his precarious
condition and offered to take him to his own house. While the doctor was still
trying to ascertain what was Gandhi's wish, Rev. Doke bent down and gently
asked him: 'How do you feel?’

Gandhi:

Rev. Doke:
Gandhi:
Rev. Doke:

Gandhi:

I am all right, but there is pain in the teeth and the
ribs. Where is Mir Alam?

He has been arrested along with the rest.

They should be released.

That's all very well. But here you are so badly
injured and lying in a stranger's office.The police
are ready to take you to the hospital, but if you will
go to my place, Mrs. Doke and I will minister to
your comforts as best we can.

Yes, please take me to your place. Thank the police for
their offer but tell them that I prefer to go with you.

In a little while a carriage was sent for and he was removed by Rev.
Doke to his house in Smit Street. Montfort Chamney, the Registrar of Asiatics,
who had come in the meantime, also accompanied them. As soon as they
reached Rev. Doke's house, a doctor was sent for. Meanwhile, talking to Mr.
Chamney, Gandhi said: 'I was going to your office with the intention to give
ten fingerprints and take out the first certificate of registration, but God willed
it otherwise. I'd now request you to get the papers here and let me register. I
hope you'll not let any one else register before me.'

Mr. Chamney said: Where is the hurry about it? Soon the doctor will
be here. You please rest yourself and all will be well. I'll issue certificates to
others but keep your name at the head of the list.'

Gandhi still insisted: 'I'm pledged to take out the first certificate.
Since I'm alive I must do that. That's why I'm keen that the papers be
brought here.'

Mr. Chamney had no option but go to his office and fetch the papers.
Meanwhile, Dr. Thwaites came and stitched up the wounds on Gandhi's
cheek and upper lip. His injured ribs also needed attention. After the doctor
had finished, Gandhi asked for a telegraph form and wired to the

COMPROMISEAND ITS AFTERMATH

257

Attorney-General not to order any proceedings against Mir Alam and
others. Meanwhile the Registrar returned with his papers and Gandhi,
sitting strapped in bandages, gave the ten fingerprints from his sick-bed.
Mr. Chamney, watching him do so, could not hold back his tears. The
Registrar again came to Gandhi one day and sat with him to draw up a
notice for publicising that after the Asians had complied with their part of
the settlement, the Registration Act would be repealed. Mr. Chamney
was to show this draft to General Smuts before its publication. At his next
visit, Mr. Chamney informed Gandhi that the Asians were already coming
up for registration and enquired whether it was still necessary to publish
the notice. Gandhi spontaneously replied that there was no necessity. It
did not occur to him that such a notice would be useful in so far as it
would further bind General Smuts to his part of the compromise. Or perhaps
he was too unsuspecting a person to think along this line.

Forbidden to speak by the doctor, Gandhi wrote a short note addressed
to the Indian community, reiterating his wish that no action should be
taken against those who had attacked him and that no effort should be spared
to make voluntary registration a success. Fearing that the unfortunate incident
might give rise to misgivings among the Hindus, he reminded them that if
they felt hurt 'they would put themselves in the wrong before the world and
their Maker.' He went on to urge: '... let the blood spilt today cement the two
communities indissolubly — such is my heart-felt prayer. May God grant it.'
Gandhi had made it clear to the Attorney-General that if his assailants were
charged he would not depose against them. But so much was the pressure
from Europeans for criminal proceedings against the accused persons that
the police could not but prosecute them. They were convicted on the evidence
of non-Indians who had witnessed the assault and sentenced to three months'
rigorous imprisonment.

Rev. Doke and his wife, feeling concerned about Gandhi's mind
continuing to be feverishly active, entreated him by making signs not to
write or do anything. In response to this, he made a request in writing
that their daughter Olive should sing for him his favourite hymn, 'Lead,
kindly light.' Immediately the little girl was signalled to come in and
comply with Gandhi's wish.

Rev. Doke was one of those Europeans who were genuinely sympathetic
towards the Indian resistance movement. About six months prior to the
incident of February 1 0,1 908, the gentle and kind-hearted Baptist minister
had one day called on Gandhi to open his mind to him: 'Please take me
as your friend in this struggle. I consider it my religious duty to render you
such help as I can. If I have learnt any lesson from the life of Jesus, it is
this that one should share and lighten the load of those who are heavily
laden.' Gradually they became more intimate with each other. But, now,
Gandhi was completely overwhelmed by the tenderness with which he,
along with his wife, took care of him. So long as he stayed with them,
their house continued to attract a large number of visitors, the humblest of

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Indian hawkers as well as the richest merchants, to enquire after his
health. The Doke family received them all with equal courtesy. This,
added to the constant nursing care they lavished on Gandhi, was no
ordinary task. But they did it most affably. In the bargain they incurred
the displeasure of many Europeans. Rev. Doke, however, never felt
disturbed on that account.

About a week had thus passed when Gandhi found that his injuries
were taking excessive time to heal. He took Rev. Doke's permission to
treat them with mud plaster. The pastor's young son was sent out to
fetch some clean and uncontaminated earth. Mrs. Doke got the mud
paste ready and applied it on Gandhi's face. Within two days the wounds
began to heal.

***

After his recovery, it was necessary for Gandhi to pay a visit to Phoenix
to see his family and the other inmates who, having known all that had
happened, were anxious about him. Kasturba could not manage to undertake
a journey to Johannesburg to look him up. He himself was perturbed by
reports from Natal that many Indians in that Colony too had not liked the
settlement he had made with the T ransvaal Government. Having always viewed
the satyagraha struggle as a 'battle on behalf of all the Indians in South
Africa,' he wanted to take the earliest opportunity to go to Natal and do
whatever he could to remove misunderstandings there. Early in March, he
took the train to Durban. As he wished, a public meeting had been arranged.
Before he presented himself he had been warned he might again be assaulted.
But no one could dissuade him from exposing himself to danger. The meeting
was to start at 8 p.m. He was there at the appointed time. He addressed the
gathering and explained how the compromise had been arrived at. He answered
the questions put to him. The proceedings were coming to an end when a
Pathan, with a big stick in his hand, came rushing up to the platform. Someone
turned off the lights. There was a loud report of a blank shot fired from a
revolver by a person who wanted to frighten the assailant. Gandhi himself
was surrounded by his friends anxious to protect him. Soon a police contingent
arrived there and escorted him to Parsi Rustomji's home.

The next morning, Rustomji gathered the Pathans of Durban so that Gandhi
could listen to them and assuage their feelings. Gandhi tried to mollify them, but
was unable to wipe out the rancour with which their minds had been poisoned. It
was a woeful scene. But Gandhi did not give himself over to despair. He left for
Phoenix the same day. Among others, Jack Moodaley, a Natal-born Tamilian
trained as a boxer, insisted on accompanying Gandhi as one of his bodyguards. In
Phoenix, he kept vigil during the night while Gandhi slept peacefully in the open.
Philosophising about it later on, he wrote: 'I believe that I have an unflinching faith in
God. For many years I have accorded intellectual assent to the proposition that

COMPROMISE AND ITS AFTERMATH

259

death is only a big change in life and nothing more, and should be welcome
whenever it arrives. I have deliberately made a supreme attempt to cast out
from my heart all fear whatsoever including the fear of death. Still I remember
occasions in my life when I have not rejoiced at the thought of approaching
death as one might rejoice at the prospect of meeting a long-lost friend. Thus
man often remains weak notwithstanding all his efforts to be strong, and
knowledge which stops at the head and does not penetrate into the heart is
of but little use in the critical times of living experience.'

Gandhi had always valued the support that he got from the white quarters
for the Indian cause. On return to Johannesburg, he organized a banquet to
honour the Europeans who had rendered help during the movement. David
Pollock, a distinguished British journalist and Honorary Secretary of the
Transvaal Native Affairs Society, declared at this get-together that the Indians
had opened 'the gates of freedom to the entire coloured population.'

During the early stages of the struggle, many of the South African
whites used to mock the Indian community, but as the movement gathered
momentum, their scornful attitude began to change to one of awe. This new
admiration for Indians and their leadership was in complete contrast to the
spite with which some of Gandhi's Indian opponents poured abuse on him.
What pained him more than anything else was the accusation: 'Gandhi has
totally ruined the Muslims, and has been doing so for the last fifteen years.'
This slow, simmering dissent, symptomising lack of trust between Muslims
and Hindus, was a greater torment to Gandhi than physical injuries inflicted
on him by Mir Alam. But he was determined to guard the two sections of
the Indian Community against the aforesaid malady. This was the beginning
of his lifelong struggle to infuse among the Muslims and Hindus of India the
spirit of mutual understanding.

Gandhi carried the cross with such forbearance and answered the
objections raised by different people against the settlement with such
patience that gradually most of the Transvaal Indians came to rally around
him. On the highly controversial issue of fingerprints, Gandhi proclaimed:
'When the giving of finger-impressions was compulsory, anyone refusing to
do so would have been liable to prosecution. Now that it is voluntary, one
need not be concerned if the official refuses to entertain one's application.
Those who object to the finger-impressions need not give them, regardless
of what the officials say.' Once the misunderstandings were removed, there
was a flood of applicants for registration.

By the first week of May 1 908, more than 8,000 Indians had submitted
their applications. About 6,000 of them had received the certificates. The
Indians had nearly carried out their part of the settlement and they expected
the Government to repeal the Black Act and legalize the registrations.
Whereas there was no sign of a move in that direction, on expiry of three
months' time given for voluntary registration, the Registrar issued an order
that the cases of all Asiatics, who at the time of the compromise were
outside the Colony but were coming in after May 9, 1908, would be

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

covered by the Asiatic Law Amendment Act. Immediately, Gandhi
took up this question with General Smuts. He argued that the Indian
community's undertaking according to the settlement having been fulfilled,
the Act should be repealed and till that was done voluntary registration of
those returning to the Colony should go on unless it was decided that they
need not be identified before passage of the new legislation. He reminded
the General that in trying to make good his word he had nearly lost his life
and this arose because, in the opinion of some of his countrymen, he had
sold them, by reason of having agreed to the principle of ten fingerprints. He
had gone on to add: 'Were the proposed registration, under the Act, of new
arrivals persisted in, not only will suspicion be accentuated, but it will be
justified, and I cannot help saying that those who may feel irritated against
me will be entitled to my life.'

Gandhi's reasoning, though sound, did not move Smuts who insisted
that the fresh Indian entrants, whatever their earlier title to domicile, must
apply for registration under the existing law. There was no indication from his
side whether or not the Registration Act would be repealed. This stubbornness
on the Government's part came as vindication of the position taken by those
Indians who were opposed to the Gandhi-Smuts compromise. Incensed by
the fact that their fears had been found justified, they became more truculent.
One of the militant Pathans assaulted Essop Mia, Chairman of the BIA.
Moosa Ebrahim Patel and Cachalia Sheth who had tried to seize the assailant
were also hurt. To all those who were vulnerable to such violent attacks,
Gandhi's advice was: ' ... if we can develop real courage, we may suffer
assaults rather than turn away from our duty out of fear.... If, however, such
courage is beyond our reach, we must learn to keep the stick with us and be
prepared to defend ourselves with it.' For his own part, Gandhi had reached
the limit of his forbearance. He felt compelled to write a personal letter to
Smuts, requesting him to order deportation of the person who had been
arrested for his key role as an active agent in contriving these assaults.
Surprisingly, this suggestion did not find favour with the Government. It is, in
any case, a good example of Gandhi having no qualms about the killing of a
deadly snake when there was no other option left.

He continued to make every possible effort to persuade General Smuts
to implement his part of the agreement. Letters were exchanged and
meetings were held. At one time, breakdown of the settlement looked
imminent. Yet there was another scene when it appeared that the Indians
were going to have their way.The negotiations reached a critical stage on
June 22, 1908, when Gandhi and Smuts had an important discussion. By
this time, the Transvaal Government's legal experts had done their job. The
General was now able to say that it was the intention of the Government to
repeal the Asiatic Registration Act, but on certain conditions. The draft
amendment to the Immigration Restriction Act proposed by the Government
was shown to Gandhi. The Bill was all right as far as the legalisation of
voluntary registrations was concerned, but it contained provisions

COMPROMISE AND ITS AFTERMATH

261

injurious to the Boer-War refugees and holders of old registration
certificates and permits waiting in India or elsewhere for their return to
the Transvaal as also well-educated immigrants in future. Gandhi wanted
these flaws to be removed, which General Smuts was not prepared to
do. He had also turned down Gandhi's proposal about the provision for
appeal to a judicial authority in cases where permits were not granted
against applications for voluntary registration. Having failed to secure an
agreement on his own terms, Smuts affirmed his decision to retain the
Asiatic Registration Act and take appropriate steps to otherwise validate
voluntary registrations. So the negotiations came to an abrupt end.
Gandhi left Smuts' office completely convinced that the Indians were not
going to get justice without further struggle.

It would be useful to view the course of events during the period in
question in the light of the basic character of the movement and the kind of
people who associated themselves with it and the considerations by which
they were guided. The majority of Indian merchants had been drawn towards
non-violent resistance in the belief that it would be the best means of protecting
their material interests. Because of Gandhi's deep concern with the moral
aspects of public work, values like human dignity and national honour had,
from the very beginning, prominently figured in the campaign for mobilizing
the entire community for participation in the fight. The solemn covenant with
God made at the mass meeting of September 11 ,1 906 at Johannesburg had
introduced an element of religious faith into the entire thinking based on
which the battle royal was to be fought.

The emotionalisation of the mass mind notwithstanding, when the
hour of reckoning actually arrived, a number of well-to-do merchants,
some of them forming part of the leadership, were the first to feel
perturbed at the sight of likely damage to their business. This was at the
root of the distrust that crept in imperceptibly between the Muslim and
Hindu sections of the community. This situation was being exploited by
the few Indians who were in principle opposed to crossing swords with
the Government. These people found themselves in a position to
encourage the weak-hearted to retreat from the stand taken by the
community and to submit to the registration law.

The merchant-class, understandably, had the strength to withstand
some loss, but not enough passion to live through it. The poor hawkers, at
the other end of the spectrum, possessed greater will to rough it out but not
the requisite staying power. Their problem was: when they were consigned to
jail, who would take care of their families? The BIA, which was to hold them
all together, did not at this stage have the resources to offer financial support
to the families whose earning members had courted imprisonment.

For these inherent weaknesses from which the movement suffered,
there was no simple remedy. The loosely structured BIA also had some
deficiencies as a political organization. The fact that despite all handicaps
the movement did gain sufficient momentum by January end to make it

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

necessary for Smuts to come to some sort of understanding with Gandhi
is a proof of the latter's capacity for improvisation as well as the latent
power of satyagraha. Of course, when Smuts felt compelled to concede
something, Gandhi was under equal pressure to hasten a compromise.
That is why he had to be content with whatever he could secure in the first
round and use it as a base for further encounters. If, in the bargain, he had
to face disapproval, abuse and assaults by some of his own brethren as
well as disinclination on the part of General Smuts to play a fair game, he
had the strength to remain unshaken.

While grappling with unforeseen complications, Gandhi gained a more
sophisticated view of satyagraha and realised its immense power. He now
looked at it essentially as an attitude of mind, free from untruth, deceit and
violence that would enable an individual or a group to face with confidence
any moral challenge, howsoever daunting it might be. As to its potency, as
early as February 1908, Gandhi had said: 'It is only because we do not
appreciate the marvel of satyagraha that we live in India as a poor and
cowardly race, not only in our relations with the Government but in our
personal relations as well. Certain customs which are palpably evil are kept
alive in our country mainly because we lack in [the spirit of] satyagraha .' it
is evident from this statement that the political and social fetters that impeded
India's progress were already weighing on Gandhi's mind and he had come
to see in satyagraha the right answer to those problems. The process of
Gandhi's ordainment for the larger task he was to undertake in India after a
few years had already begun.

THE SECOND ROUND

The Transvaal British Indian Association, ready to face another
challenge, had decided that in case the negotiations Gandhi was having
with General Smuts did not come to a satisfactory conclusion, its
constituents would withdraw their applications for voluntary registration,
as a step towards resumption of satyagraha. What happened on June
22,1908 had brought the matter to a head. General Smuts was openly
charged with breach of faith. As test cases, Ebrahim Ismail, Essop Ismail
Mia and Gandhi filed petitions with the Supreme Court praying for the
Registrar of Asiatics to be ordered to return their applications for registration
because the Government had declined to give any assurance about repeal
of the Asiatic Registration Act as had been promised by the Colonial
Secretary at his interview with Gandhi on January 30,1908. This promise,
according to Gandhi's affidavit, had been repeated at another interview on
February 3,1 908. Soon after that, in a speech delivered at Richmond on
February 5 Smuts had said: The Indians' second contention was that they
would never register until the law had been repealed ... I had told them
that the law would not be repealed so long as there was an Asiatic in the
country who had not registered ...' By implication Smuts had reaffirmed in
this statement that, after the Asiatics had offered themselves for
registration, the Act in question would be repealed. Even in the subsequent
correspondence that passed between Gandhi and Smuts there was not a
word said on behalf of the Government regarding repudiation of the intended
repeal. Smuts had, however, tried to hedge himself by putting impossible
conditions.

If the passive resisters, who had obtained voluntary registrations,
were to pay the price demanded for the repeal of the Asiatic Act, it would
have amounted to bartering away the rights of others who were as much
entitled to be in the Transvaal as they themselves. In this connection,
Gandhi had drawn attention to the repeated declarations of responsible
officials after British occupation that the domiciliary rights of pre-war
Asiatic residents would be protected. How could he agree to the treatment
of such people wanting to return to the Transvaal as prohibited immigrants?
Nothing could be more unfair than denial of the right to ask for
judicial examination of the claims to these persons and others concerned
who had not been granted voluntary registration in response to their
applications. The proposal that the BIA should acquiesce in the deprivation of

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GANDHI — ORDAiNED IN SOUTH AFRICA

the rights of British Indians with high educational attainments and professional
men whose assistance was vital for those already living in the Transvaal, was
equally unjustifiable.

The few Indians who had opposed the compromise from the very
beginning were in high feather. If some of them taunted Gandhi for his credulity,
he did not feel bitter about it. At the mass meeting held at Johannesburg on
the afternoon of June 24,1908 and attended by delegates from all over the
Transvaal, Gandhi ungrudgingly pleaded guilty for having put too great a faith
in Smuts' integrity and statesmanship by entering into a compromise which
was not to be implemented by him honestly. But he was not prepared to
agree with critics that it would be impossible to arouse the community again
to the earlier pitch of resistance. Chastened by the unpleasant happenings
and having viewed the matter from all angles, Gandhi with the BIA Chairman's
express support gave the clarion call for revival of satyagraha. Particularly to
his opponents, who were angry with him for having prematurely called off the
campaign, he pointed out that now they had an opportunity to prove their
mettle. Urging his countrymen to gird up their loins and let the Government
have a taste of their strength, he told them: The sword of satyagraha is far
superior to the steel sword. Truth and justice provide it point; divine help is
the hilt that adorns it. One who has the use of this sword has no cause to fear
defeat. Therefore, brave Indians, arise, and without ado, draw the sword of
satyagraha and fight unto victory.' The war imagery employed by Gandhi so
lustily was meant to shake off the mood of despondency that had been
prevalent for some time. All those who had registered voluntarily were to fight
now not for themselves, but on behalf of their less fortunate brethren whose
rights were in jeopardy. A sharper moral edge had thus been lent to the
satyagraha campaign in the offing.

General Smuts had put himself into a tight spot. All that he could
do was to take shelter behind legal trivia. Both Smuts and Montfort
Chamney submitted affidavits to the effect that the former had never
made a promise to Gandhi that the Act would be repealed. In doing so
they had probably satisfied themselves with the thought that the indication
given about withdrawal of the Act did not amount to a promise. Anyhow,
the Supreme Court came to their help and decided that the Asiatics had
no right to recall the applications for voluntary registration. The decision
was based on the argument that an application was a kind of letter
which under the law should belong to the party to whom it was addressed.
If anyone wanted to withdraw his application all that he had to do was
not to accept the registration certificate.

Gandhi w'as not much disturbed by this judgment of the Supreme
Court which signified the Indian community's defeat solely on the basis of a
technicality. The aim with which the voluntarily registered Asians had gone to
court was to equate themselves with their unregistered brethren and to make
it clear that the compromise had become null and void. To drive the point
further home, it was decided to prepare the community to burn the

THE SECOND ROUND

265

registration certificates if, after all, the Black Act was not abrogated. For
doing that a vigorous drive was launched to collect the certificates from Indian
settlers spread out in different parts of the Colony.

The Government could sense another crisis building up. Persons
like Cartwright and Hosken were anxious to avert it somehow. Thanks to
their coaxing, Smuts was prepared to concede the right of entry to holders
of the old £3 registration certificates and other bona fide residents who had
left the Transvaal in the wake of the war and had not yet returned to the
Colony. He was also agreeable to admitting appeals against Montford
Chamney's decisions. But he still insisted on exclusion of educated Indians
from coming into the Colony in future. This condition was not acceptable to
the Indians. General Smuts was trying to justify his stand by referring to
the Immigration Restriction Act. He had repeatedly said that this law had
completely and finally shut the door from India. Gandhi and his associates
had never accepted this' view. They were, however, willing to go by this
drastic enactment according to its interpretation by the Supreme Court.
Apparently, not quite sure that his reading was absolutely right, Smuts now
wanted the Asians to accept an amendment to the Immigration Restriction
Act incorporating his interpretation of it. The Indian community was naturally
unwilling to agree to this proposal. The BIA wanted to vindicate the position
taken on this issue by obtaining a judicial verdict in a test case.

Sorabji Shapurji, a young educated Parsi settler in Natal and working
as a book-keeper, entered the Transvaal after giving due notice to the
Government. He was not stopped at the border. The police, however, kept
him under surveillance. Ultimately he was prosecuted under the Transvaal
Asiatic Registration Act (TARA) for having failed to produce a registration
certificate on demand. Gandhi appeared as his defence counsel and stressed
his client's entitlement for coming to the Transvaal under the Immigration
Restriction Act (TIRA). The magistrate dealing with the case under the TARA
ordered the accused to leave the Colony within seven days. As already
planned, Sorabji did not carry out the order. After ten days he was again
arrested and produced before the magistrate. He deposed that as a British
subject he had every right to be in the Transvaal. He did not, therefore, wish
to quit the Colony: he was prepared to face the penalties for disobeying the
order of the court. Gandhi again stressed his client's rights on the basis of
the Immigration Restriction Act and his grievance relating to coercion under
the Asiatics Registration Law. He was not willing to obey an order issued
under the latter Act and had no hesitation to suffer the consequences for
conscience sake. The accused was awarded one month with hard labour.
The fact that he had not been tried for violation of the TIRA was clear confirmation
of the way Gandhi had interpreted that law. When the trial was in progress, a
large number of Indians had collected outside the court which was already
full. The police had made use of force to hold them in check. On conclusion
of the proceedings, the indignant crowd followed Gandhi to his office where
he addressed them briefly. He explained to his audience that Sorabji had

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gone to jail for a principle and not for opening the gates for unrestricted
immigration into the Transvaal. He also unfolded the lines on which they
would carry on satyagraha on its resumption. Sorbaji's imprisonment was an
early signal of what was going to happen in the coming months.

In another case Ratanji Lalloo who had come to the Transvaal with his
uncle was charged with contravention of the TIRA. Being the minor son of a
prohibited immigrant, unable to write in a European language and having
insufficient means to support himself, he had a weak case, and yet it went up
to the Supreme Court. Even while his conviction was upheld, the way the
presiding judge, Sir William Solomon, had viewed the matter left it clear that
if the boy had been able to satisfy the education test, assuming that he had
sufficient means to support himself, he would not have been debarred from
entering the country. Thus indirectly the British Indian contention had been
upheld. What General Smuts wanted was to put a total embargo on any
more Indians coming into the Colony. Gandhi's answer was that the education
test could be made as severe as the T ransvaal Government chose to make
it, but he could not be a party to promulgation of the racial criterion. Apart
from the principle involved, the Indian trading community had realised the
importance of having the necessary complement of lawyers, accountants
and other professionals as and when required. The BIA asserted that there
was no other British colony, with a resident Asiatic population, having legislation
of the kind to which their consent was now demanded as a condition precedent
to the granting of plain justice to pre-war Indian settlers.

At this critical juncture, the Transvaal Government chose to play foul
and hit the Indian community below the belt. The Registrar of Asiatics set
in motion the process of enforcing the procedure for issue of commercial
licenses on the basis that the TARA was to remain on the Statute-book.
While some of the traders and hawkers got panicky and rushed to the
municipal offices to get their licenses, there were many who boldly continued
their business without trading and hawking licenses, keeping themselves
ready for prison life. The pickets were again at work to ward off the weak-
willed from acceptance of the unjust law. Thus satyagraha had reap-peared
in a new form. The fight now was on behalf of the educated Indians to
secure their right of coming to the Colony. Gandhi did not mind if the larger
mass of Indians kept away from this movement. He was of the view that if
500 Indians of true mettle, prepared for the worst, could take the field,
Indian honour would be vindicated.

There were quite a number of Indians who had imbibed the true
spirit of satyagraha, and felt thrilled by the idea of hawking without license
and courting imprisonment. Some of the leading merchants decided to
take on the role of defiant hawkers. Essop Ismail Mia, Chairman of the
British Indian Association, declared on July 16, 1908 that if the people of
Johannesburg saw strange Indian faces with baskets of fruit and vegetables,
they should understand that they had become unlicensed hawkers by
way of protest against injustice. Soon he made an application for a hawker's

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license which was not issued to him because of his refusal to give thumb-
impressions. Then followed his rounds as an unlicensed hawker. Carrying a
basket of fruit, he visited the houses of prominent European families. Many
of his countrymen did not like that the Chairman should be doing such a
thing. But Gandhi sounded a note of deep admiration for the very good
example set by Essop Mia. It became a source of inspiration to other well-
to-do and educated Indians to join the new wave of satyagraha. Gandhi
himself was unable to do it as he was enrolled as an attorney. He, therefore,
thought it necessary to draft in his eldest son Harilal aged 20. He was
arrested for selling fruit without the hawking license. Gandhi appeared as a
counsel when Harilal and others charged with similar offences were tried in
a court at Johannesburg. Instead of putting up any defence, he asked for
severe punishment to be awarded: 'If a light sentence is imposed, as soon
as they come out, they intend to repeat the action. It will be a saving of time
to give them a long sentence ...' All the same, Harilal got only a light
punishment — a fine of £1 or seven days' term with hard labour: the latter
was his obvious choice.

Despite several Gujarati merchants having participated in the movement
with great dedication, as a class they could never make amends for the sins
of those for whom there was nothing more important than making money. For
this reason it was not always possible for Gandhi to maintain a spirit of
complete understanding between the affluent traders and the less privileged
hawkers or petty store-keepers. In the situation it was natural for mischief-
makers to continue to sow seeds of discord between the Muslim and other
sections of the Indian community. However, Imam Abdul Kadir Bawazeer,
Chairman of the Hamidia Islamic Society, emphatically denied the existence
of any Mohammedan dissent so far as the ongoing satyagraha was concerned.
He himself courted imprisonment by taking to unlicensed hawking. The day
he and some other Indian leaders went to jail, all Indian business throughout
the Colony came to a standstill. Although Gandhi was conscious of the big
role of the poorer sections in breathing new life into the satyagraha campaign,
he had seen to it that the genuinely patriotic among the more prosperous
merchants should continue to spearhead the movement: without them, he
thought, it would lose not only its strength but dignity as well.

As the days went by, unlicensed hawking or trading, arrests and
prosecutions on a selective basis, court proceedings against the accused,
some persons going to and others returning from the jail, became a regular
cycle. About 100 persons suffered imprisonment during this phase of the
movement and the hero amongst them was Thambi Naidoo, a petty Tamil
businessman who had come over from Mauritius, (p.21 8 fn)

***

With the publication of the Bill on August 11 , 1908, meant to complete
the formality of validating voluntary registrations, it became evident that

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conciliation had no place in the Transvaal Government's Asiatic policy. The
Indian community immediately made a petition to the Legislative Assembly
stating that the proposed enactment constituted a breach of the compromise
arrived at in January 1 908. At the same time Gandhi wrote a persona! letter to
Genera! Smuts informing him that a band of satyagrahis, including four front¬
line leaders of the Natal Indian Congress and the Cape British Indian League,
were already at the border to stage their entry into the T ransvaal and requesting
him to go over the matter again and see if he could discuss it with
representatives of the Indian community and come to an acceptable
arrangement conforming to the spirit in which the Indians had opted for
voluntary registrations. He left Smuts in no doubt that if he did not relent the
T ransvaal Indians would have to carry out their resolve to burn the registration
certificates at a mass meeting the following Sunday. General Smuts' reaction
to this letter, which he looked at as an ultimatum, was: 'The people who have
offered such a threat to the Government have no idea of its power. I am only
sorry that some agitators are trying to inflame poor Indians who will be ruined
if they succumb to their blandishments.' Confident that an overwhelming
majority of white settlers, including many influential persons and members of
the Legislative Assembly, were in agreement with him, he remained adamant.

On the afternoon of August 1 6, 1 908 (Sunday), about three thousand
Indians and some Chinese swarmed the ground alongside the Hamidiya
Mosque at Johannesburg. The leaders sat on the platform. They included a
few prominent persons who had come from Natal and the Cape. Leung
Quinn, Chairman of the Chinese Association was also present. Essop Ismail
Mia was to preside over the meeting. On grounds of propriety a
communication had been sent to the Colonial Secretary that the ritual for
which the general meeting had been convened would be called off if the
administration was prepared to give up the proposed legislation. Some of
the leaders did not rule out the possibility of a favourable response by the
authorities even at this late hour. Just before the proceedings started, a
volunteer arrived on a cycle with a telegram received from the Government
which made clear that it was not going to change its course. The message
was greeted with cheers by people who were so flushed with enthusiasm
for making a bonfire of the registration certificates that they would have felt
unhappy if they had lost the opportunity to go ahead with it.

After a short speech by the Chairman spelling out the solemn
purpose for which they had assembled, Gandhi addressed the gathering.
He ex-plained to the audience the significance of what they were going to
do. He was particularly anxious about those who might burn their certificates
because so many others were going to do it, but did not have the strength
to boldly face all consequences. To such persons his advice was to withdraw
themselves from the fight right at this stage. If Gandhi could ever be

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harsh to anyone, he was so on this occasion in his references to Montfort
Chamney, Head of the Asiatic Department, whom he could not excuse for
having denied in an affidavit the promise given by General Smuts for repealing
the Asiatic Registration Act.

Gandhi was on this day in a free-speaking mood. Striking a personal
note, he added:

I did not come out of the gaol before my time was up in order
that I might leave the hardships that I was suffering there —
personally, I was not undergoing any hardships whatever. It would
be a far greater hardship to me to have to submit to indignity or
to see a fellow-countryman trampled underfoot or his bread, to
which he is justly entitled, taken away from him ... I would far
rather pass the whole of my life in gaol and be perfectly happy
than see my fellow- countrymen subjected to indignity....

Having made his own position clear he called upon his brethren to be
true to their God and burn their certificates with a determination to face all
kinds of suffering rather than break their oath. As Gandhi said these words,
everyone shouted: ’We are ready to burn them.' He had just concluded his
long speech when Mir Alam, who was also present, stepped forward and
sincerely acknowledged the wrong he had done to Gandhibhai. As he had
not taken a voluntary registration certificate, he handed over his original permit
which he wanted to be burnt. Gandhi clasped his hand with great warmth and
assured him that he had never harboured resentment against him. The scene
became more poignant when several other Indians who had been quietly
holding back their certificates stepped forward and surrendered them.

Following this, four resolutions were passed by the congregation. The
most important of them related to an emphatic protest against the proposed
Voluntary Registration Validation law which constituted breach of compromise.
This forma! motion having been gone through, a large three-legged cauldron
erected on a raised platform was filled with registration certificates and trading
licenses that had been collected. Liquid paraffin was poured in before the
large mass of documents was set on fire by Essop Ismail Mia in the midst of
tumultuous slogan-shouting. Even at this stage, a few amongst the persons
who had come in late ran up to the platform and threw their certificates into
the bonfire. By this time it had already grown dark. As the bright flames rose,
all those present, wild with joy, hailed the occasion with booming applause,
the young ones blowing whistles and tossing hats in the air. The spectacle
was compared by a British journal to the Boston Tea Party.

The happenings of August 16, 1908 had a sobering effect on the
Government. Before noon the following day, Gandhi received a message
that the Colonial Secretary would like to talk to him. Accordingly he went
to see General Smuts on Tuesday morning. Present at the long

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

discussion were the Prime Minister General Botha, the honest mediator
Albert Cartwright and half a dozen other leaders including Leung Quinn and
William Hosken. The Government was prepared to make some concessions
which were incorporated into the Validation Bill, redesignated as Asiatics
Registration Amendment Law, meant to be passed within the next few days.
But Gandhi and his close associates, firm in their demands for outright repeal
of the Black Act and the claim of at least highly educated Asiatics to come to
the Transvaal, were not satisfied. The result was another mass meeting of
protest on August 23, 1 908. On that day, over five hundred more certificates
were consigned to the flames, bringing the total to about 2,300. One highlight
of this meeting was the unmistakable change in attitude of the Pathan leaders
who declared their intention of participating in the fight to its end.

Thus began in a dramatic setting another phase of satyagraha in the
Transvaal. The Natal brethren promptly provided the much-needed initial push.
A few Indians from Durban including Sheth Daud Mohammed and Parsee
Rustomji having earlier rights of domicile in the Transvaal sought entry into
the Colony. They were arrested right at the border and deported after having
been administered a warning. When they came in again, they were prosecuted
and punished. Instead of paying up the fine, they elected to go to jail. The
example set by the worthy gentlemen from Natal acted as a source of further
inspiration to the Transvaal Indians. There was large-scale defiance of law by
way of unlicensed hawking of goods. Again the jails were being filled with
satyagrahis sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment. By September 9,1 75
persons had already been punished.

In the meantime, the Asiatics Registration Amendment Law (Act
36 of 1 908) was hurriedly passed and published in the T ransvaal Gazette.
This enactment, despite some of its flaws, was no doubt a very great
improvement on Act 2 of 1 907. Nothing could be more incongruous than
having both the laws on the Statute-book side by side. It appears Smuts
was determined to hold the mailed fist tight behind the velvet glove and
did not want Gandhi to get away with 'the thin veil of self-respect provided
by the concept of a totally voluntary registration.' The BiA straightway
went up to the Secretary of State for Colonies on September 9, 1 908. In
para 8 of this petition Gandhi had been forthright enough to say: 'However
acceptable the measure may be in comparison with the Asiatic Act of
1907, ... the community represented by the petitioning Association is
unable to accept the benefits of the measure until Act 2 of 1 907 is removed
from the Statute-book, and the status of educated Asiatics properly and
equitably defined.' The BIA had prayed to His Majesty's Government not
to sanction the new Act without disposing of its objections. This
representation too proved futile.

Gandhi's greatest problem at this time was to guard against the
campaign running out of steam again. In his reckoning the number of men in
the Transvaal he could draw upon would not be more than one thousand, with
only a handful of unflinching satyagrahis among them. The merchants

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who were offering themselves for satyagraha were being pressurised by the
administration in every possible manner. The courts instead of passing prison
sentences against them were in many cases imposing only fines. If they did
not pay the fines their goods were auctioned in a way that would put them to
maximum loss. The petty shopkeepers were being intimidated by the European
suppliers who refused to sell them goods on credit unless they dissociated
themselves from the resistance movement.

Special fund-raising had become necessary to keep things going. In
that regard, the distinguished guests from Natal played an important role. They
solicited for contributions from all those in Johannesburg who could afford to
pay, and also visited Krugersdorp, Heidelberg, Standerton and Pretoria. Despite
these efforts, the movement continued to be dogged by financial problems.
Gandhi having suspended his practice, he needed provision to be made for the
rent payable for the BIA office, in addition to meeting the other expenditure of
the Association including the funds sent to London on SABIC account. Because
of the wide range of events to be reported, the working expenditure of Indian
Opinion had gone up and the weekly had a regular deficit of £1 0 per month that
was to be made good somehow.

The difficulty regarding funds apart, the number of passive resisters
from the trading community was visibly going down. Feeling much concerned
about it, Gandhi took particular care to draw the maximum number of hawkers
into action. He also went over to Natal towards the close of September to
induce more of his countrymen there, who had previously resided in the
T ransvaal, to re-enter the Colony and offer themselves for imprisonment. Even
there he was not able to muster more than fourteen volunteers. The
Government knew for what purpose he had gone to Durban. Failure on Gandhi's
part to draft a large enough number of persons from Natal, which the authorities
had thought would be more than a hundred, was a welcome sign from the
Government's point of view. Anyhow, he was arrested at Volksrust railway
station on his return journey for failure to produce his registration certificate
and for refusal to give his finger-impressions as a means of identification. On
October 14, he was tried and sentenced to a fine of £25 or two months in
prison with hard labour. Gandhi naturally preferred imprisonment. There were
about 250 satyagrahis in different jails then with the largest number in Volksrust,
where Gandhi was interned.

Hard labour meant nine hours' manual work every day. On the first day
in Volksrust jail, Gandhi along with other co-prisoners was put to digging up
a field having hard, rugged surface not too far from a busy public
road.* Although the gang worked with full vigour, the warder was continuously
howling at them to increase their output. Strenuous work under

* Later, when there was a Parliament question about the treatment meted out to Gandhi,
the Transvaal Governor denied it. Rev. J.J. Doke, on the other hand, wrote to Rev. F.B.
Meyer on October 21, 1908: 'Mr. Gandhi was sentenced last Wednesday to two months'
imprisonment with hard larbour and may now be seen in prison clothes with a pickaxe
road-making in Volkrust Market Place...' CWMG, Vol IX, App. VII, pp. 557-8.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

scorching heat could not but exhaust the prisoners. Gandhi saw some of
them in tears. One, he noticed, had a swollen foot. His own palms were
badly blistered. While urging others to ignore the warder's rebukes and
continue working as best as they could, Gandhi was praying to God all this
time to give him the strength not to break down. When for a moment he found
it necessary to rest himself, the warder went for him sharply. Gandhi told him
that there was no need to shout, assuring him at the same time that he
would work to the utmost limit of his endurance. Just then, one of his associates
fainted. While attending on him, Gandhi feit a passing doubt as to whether he
had given the right lead to people who had put so much trust in him. He could
clearly see on deeper reflection that facing such hardships was any time
better than remaining fettered for life. Anyhow, the plight of the prisoner in
question was brought to the Chief Warder's notice. The latter promptly looked
into the complaint and reprimanded the warder for his high-handedness.
Everyone took note of it and there was no further attempt to put the Indian
satyagrahis to such torture. The work assigned to them hereafter, including
items like road-making, tending the jail garden, digging a municipal tank,
etc., was tailored to their capacity.

Gandhi observed with much anguish that when supervision over his
fellow-prisoners was relaxed and they were left to their conscience, many of
them slackened in their work. He considered it a breach of the principles of
satyagraha. Similar was his reaction when he found some of them unwilling
to handle the urine bucket provided in every cell. He was not prepared to
accept that any piece of work could be humiliating or degrading. Those who
willingly engaged themselves in the discharge of such duties immediately
went up in his esteem.

Gandhi had been in Volksrust jail a little over a week when he was
sent away under the care of a warder to Johannesburg where he was
required for a few days to give evidence in a court case. Clad in a convict's
uniform, he walked to Volksrust railway station carrying his bundle of
clothes and packet of books. On arrival at Johannesburg again he marched
to the Fort jail in the same manner. Some of the passers-by could recognise
him even in the odd dress that he wore. It became the subject of strong
protests and questions were asked in the British Parliament. But Gandhi
himself was not perturbed about it. If anything appalled him, it was the
misery and fear in which he spent his first night on arrival at the Fort jail.
He was given a bed in a cell occupied by convicts on charges like murder
and larceny, some of them looking hardened criminals. He could perceive
a touch of mockery in their eyes when they glanced at the quaint new¬
comer. He was further put out by the obscene pranks they indulged in
among themselves. What would be his condition if he was to remain in
this cell for long? This was an unbearable thought. He regained his
composure after he had read the Bhagavad Gita for some time. He was
happy the next morning when he was transferred to the ward where other
satyagrahis had been lodged.

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273

The principal item of hard labour prescribed for satyagraha prisoners in
this jail was pounding of gravel. It was not assigned to Gandhi, though he
was keen to do the same work as other satyagrahis. When he talked to
the warder about it, the latter told him that he had had instructions not to
allot these duties to him. He was instead put on to stitching of caps with
a sewing machine. He did not take long to acquire the necessary skill for
that work.

After a week he was moved back to Volksrust. This time, instead of
being made to walk to the railway station, he was taken in a cab. A few
Indians who saw him at the platform in prison uniform had wet eyes. On the
way he was treated with plenty of good food by his Indian brethren. The
warder accompanying him was happy to have his share of the goodies!

Soon after Gandhi had returned to Volksrust, he received a telegram sent
by Albert West from Phoenix, saying that Kasturba was seriously ill and asking
him to reach there immediately. He had an option to pay the fine and obtain his
release. But to Gandhi his public duty was more important than what was expected
of him as a husband. He reminded himself that during the Boer War Lord Roberts
had lost his only son for a lesser cause than the one he was fighting for and, being
on the front, could not even attend his funeral. He wrote back to West explaining
why he could not bring himself round to securing his release by paying the fine. He
also enclosed a letter addressed to Kasturba which is worth reading:

Beloved Kastur,

I have received Mr. West's telegram ... about your illness. It cuts
my heart. I am very much grieved but I am not in a position to reach
there to nurse you. I have offered my all to the satyagraha struggle. My
coming there is out of the question. I can come only if I pay the fine,
which i must not. If you keep courage and take the necessary nutrition,
you will recover. If, however, my ill luck so has it that you pass away, I
should only say that there would be nothing wrong in your doing so in
your separation from me while I am still alive. ! love you so dearly that
even if you are dead, you will be alive to me. Your soul is deathless. I
repeat what I have frequently told you and assure you that if you do
succumb to your illness, I will not marry again. Time and again I have
told you that you may quietly breathe your last with faith in God. If you
die, even that death of yours will be a sacrifice to the cause of satyagraha.

My struggle is not merely political. It is religious and therefore quite
pure. It does not matter much whether one dies in it or lives. I hope and
expect that you will also think likewise and not be unhappy ...

Mohandas

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

More conspicuous for its tenacity than tenderness, this letter would have
given Kasturba some pride but not much comfort.

***

On completion of his sentence, Gandhi left the prison on December
12. When he arrived at Volksrust railway station to take the train to
Johannesburg, the Station Master congratulated him on his release. Gandhi
told him smilingly that it was really on that day that he found himself imprisoned,
for he was now bound to much heavier tasks than those required to be done
by him in jail. In any event, when he came out he had brought with him no
burden of bitterness. To one of the warders he subsequently presented a
copy of Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You, as a token of his
acknowledgement of the 'many kindnesses within the law' that the official
had shown him during his incarceration.

At Johannesburg, after a round of warm-hearted felicitations, Gandhi
straightaway settled down to the treadmill which in his absence was largely
attended to by Henry Polak. It took him two weeks to go to Durban and see
his ailing wife. The operation she had to undergo, performed without anaesthetic
aid, was extremely painful. After surgical treatment, however, Kasturba felt
somewhat better and Gandhi moved back to Johannesburg towards the middle
of January 1909.

The satyagraha movement, as revamped in August 1908, was in full
blast for some time. There was a little setback for a short period, but after
that it proceeded at a steady pace, resulting in about 1,500 jail sentences
in less than four months. During the preceding year over 2,000 persons,
nearly one-third of the Transvaal's adult resident Indian population, plus some
other Asians, had undergone imprisonment, most of them with hard labour.
The happenings in the Colony had aroused considerable concern in Britain as
well as in India. Consequently Whitehall felt obliged to ask the Transvaal
Government to consider if it was possible to find a solution by giving a promise
that when registration was complete the Acts of 1907 and 1908 would be
repealed, such of the provisions 'as may be required for identification of Indians
being re-enacted, and the entry of new Indian immigrants being regulated under
a strict immigration Act.' The Transvaal Government, feeling confident that the
resistance movement would soon wear off, was not inclined to pipe down. It
was all along guided by the belief that the public opinion of the Transvaal whites
was unitedly opposed to the Asiatic claims. A letter published by The Times ,
London on January 6, 1 909 from William Hosken and 26 other European settlers,
including clergymen of various Christian denominations and professional persons
of long standing in the Colony, making out a strong case for the Asiatic demands
to be gracefully conceded, should have induced the Government to rethink.
But it was in no mood to accept such advice from any quarters.

Throughout the early weeks of 1909, the Indians continued to court
arrest. Gandhi was not much worried about the fact that some individuals,

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275

with their initial fervour gone, were dropping out, as long as the hard core of
satyagrahis was intact. However, he felt deeply concerned about the unending
distrust between the shopkeepers and hawkers. The latter had started
complaining that they had been betrayed by the big merchants. While advising
the sore-heads to look at things more calmly, Gandhi continued to encourage
the Indian traders to remain steadfast and be prepared to embrace poverty if
it was necessary to continue the fight.

By this time Mohammed Ahmed Cachalia, the worthy successor of
Essop Ismail Mia as Chairman of the BIA, had come to the fore. Having
started his life as a poor piece-goods hawker, he had by dint of hard work
grown into a leading merchant. He had been acquainted with Gandhi for long
as a client. It was struggle against the Black Act that had brought them
closer to each other. With his emergence as Gandhi's intimate associate,
his European creditors, under direct or indirect encouragement from the
Government, started putting pressure on him to clear their dues. They were
prepared to relax if he dissociated himself from the satyagraha movement.
Cachalia was not a person to be stumped so easily. Gandhi made an effort to
work out an arrangement convenient to both sides, but to no avail. The creditors'
sole aim was to coerce Cachalia. The fray ended with bankruptcy proceedings
against him. Cachalia, though declared insolvent, in course of time made full
payment to his creditors, a thing unheard of in South Africa. The fortitude
displayed by him in this crisis enhanced his stature as a political leader.
Several merchants, following Cachalia's example, courageously faced the
shrinkage of their business. The Government was, however, determined to
keep up pressure against them.

Towards the end of January 1 909, when Cachalia went to jail a second
time on a sentence of three months with hard labour, the entire Indian
community felt proud of his sacrifices for the cause. This was followed by a
spurt of arrests, deportations, prosecutions and convictions, many of them
resulting in prison terms ranging from three to six months. Those going to jail
included important persons like Daud Mohammed and Parsee Rustomjee.
The Chinese leader Leung Quinn also followed suit. Gandhi was keen that
his eldest son Harilal should continue to take active part in the movement.
He was immensely pleased when he learnt about the young boy having been
sentenced to six months' imprisonment on February 10,1909.

Gandhi was then in Natal because of Kasturba again having fallen
seriously ill. This time she had become so weak that the doctor considered
it absolutely necessary to include beef soup in her diet, which in fact he
had already given her before Gandhi came into the picture. Though anxious
about his wife's health, he was unable to accept the doctor's advice.
Anyhow, he spoke to Kasturba in the matter and left her free to decide it
for herself. She flatly refused to consume such food. The doctor for his
part was not prepared to undertake the responsibility of treating a patient
who would not take the diet recommended by him. So she was removed
from Durban to Phoenix where Gandhi put her under his own hydropathic

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treatment to which she responded very well. As soon as she turned the
corner, Gandhi left for Johannesburg. As expected, he was re-arrested on
entry into the Transvaal for failure to produce the registration certificate. This
time he was sentenced to three months with hard labour. This was to be his
third experience of jail life.

On reaching the Volksrust prison, he was glad to be among his friends.
His own son was also there. Gandhi was put on to a group of satyagraha
prisoners employed for constructing a road in front of the court and, later, for
dressing up the school compound. He enjoyed doing manual labour which he
found good for his physical and mental health. He had hardly worked for three
days when the jail superintendent received a telegram advising him to take
off Gandhi from such work in the open. Consequently, sweeping duty (inside
the jail), not so satisfying as his earlier work, was allotted to him. All in all, he
was quite happy at Volksrust in the midst of more than six dozen satyagrahis.
He had yet to complete his first week there when he was suddenly removed
to Pretoria jail. There he was locked up in a cell no more than ten feet long
and seven wide, having for ventilation a small window with iron bars. The
electric light provided was too dim for reading. Its sole purpose was to enable
the warders to switch it on at night when they came to check up on the
prisoner through the watch-hole. The adjoining cell was occupied by a person
undergoing a term of imprisonment for attempted murder. The three next to
him were convicted for sodomy. Such was the environment to which Gandhi
had come from Volksrust.

The officer in charge of the jail, who was good enough to visit Gandhi's
cell, inquired of him if he needed anything. All that Gandhi asked for was
some books to read, permission to write to his ailing wife and a small bench
to sit on. About his first requirement, the reply was: 'I shall see'; as to the
second: 'Yes'; and the third: 'No'. The books Gandhi had asked for were
delivered to him promptly. Having got the permission, when Garidhi did write
a letter to Kasturba in Gujarati it was returned with a suggestion that it should
be in English. He pleaded that his wife did not know that language, but it was
of no consequence. The matter ended with his refusal to avail himself of the
facility if he could not be allowed to write in Gujarati.

The aim was to make Gandhi's prison-life uncomfortable. A blanket
and a half with a coir mat on bare floor without the luxury of a pillow constituted
his bedding. Even when he went to the lavatory a warder would stand by to
keep a watch and repeatedly urge him to hurry up. Initially, the duty allotted
to him was that of polishing the floor and doors. After some time he was
asked to sew blankets. Squatting on the floor and bending down continually
over this work caused him severe backache.

Gandhi had been in Pretoria for a week when he was summoned by
a magistrate to appear as a witness. It came as a shock to many people
when they learnt that he was taken to the court on foot in handcuffs.
Thinking that he might have some time to spare for reading, he had obtained
the Chief Warder's permission to carry a book. The latter having

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277

surmised that Gandhi probably felt ashamed of his metallic manacles, asked
him to hold the book with both hands so that the handcuffs might not be
seen. Gandhi felt amused at this remark. To him the ornaments he had on
his wrists were, intact, a matter of honour. As chance would have it, the book
he carried was Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You. There was quite
an uproar over this episode. The Transvaal Prime Minister justified the whole
thing by referring to the general rule to handcuff prisoners when taken to
court, concluding his explanation with the remark: 'Mr. Gandhi was however
allowed to draw his sleeves over his handcuffs and to carry a book, which
concealed the fact of his being handcuffed.'

During this term again the problem of food was very much there. Mealie
pap, and that too badly cooked, was something that Gandhi himself abhorred.
He was happy to take rice to whatever extent it was served, but he did not
like it without ghee (clarified butter), which was allowed only with the midday
meal twice a week. At the Chief Warder's suggestion, Gandhi went to see
the physician and pleaded for rice to be served with ghee in the evening on a
regular basis. After a good deal of argument, the maximum the physician
agreed to do was to order for him bread at supper time instead of rice. Gandhi
did not want any special dispensation for himself. What he sought was
provision of ghee to all Indian prisoners instead of one ounce of animal fat
allowed to the native prisoners along with meat once or twice a Week. The
matter having remained unsettled, he made a petition to the Director of Prisons.
After a fortnight a reply was received from him that, pending revision of the
diet schedule, Gandhi should be given a helping of ghee with rice every day.
Until the privilege was extended to all Indian prisoners, he went without it and
lived on only one meal a day which naturally affected his health.

Gandhi's professional colleague Mr. Lichtenstein once came to Pretoria
jail. When he met Gandhi he naturally inquired after his health. The latter
was at first reluctant to give a reply, but his friend insisted so much that he
had to open up his mind: 'Without going into details, I shall only say that I
am being subjected to brutal treatment. General Smuts wants to bend me,
but I am not likely to succumb. I am prepared to suffer everything. My mind
is at peace. Please do not make this public. I shall tell the world everything
after my release.' Contrary to Gandhi's wish, Lichtenstein conveyed all this
to H.S.L. Polak, who talked about it to others. David Pollock in turn took it
up with Lord Selborne at whose instance an inquiry was made. As a result
of his intervention the rest of Gandhi's prison term was made more tolerable.
Meanwhile, Gandhi received a couple of books on religion from General
Smuts and this gesture obliged him to conclude that the General could not
have intentionally put him to hardship.

It was regular prayers, meditation, good stock of books and his
insatiable appetite for reading which enabled Gandhi to hold out in the
face of isolation from other satyagrahis and solitary confinement. Besides
an intensive study of Tamil, he read over 30 books during this period.
The writings of Tolstoy, Emerson and Carlyle claimed the major part of his

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time. The Upanishads and Manusmriti were among the important books
pertaining to Hindu religion that he read with deep interest. Above all,
Raychand's poetry helped him greatly to remain self-possessed.

A letter addressed by Gandhi to Hermann Kallenbach on April 5, 1 909
from the Pretoria jail faithfully reflects the extent to which their friendship had
grown by this time. The occasion for writing it had arisen when Gandhi learnt
about Kallenbach's mother having passed away. There is one paragraph in
the letter that invites attention: 'Need I say that among those of whom I think
daily you are one? I am not with you in body but I am always with you in spirit
and often feel as if I was doing my share of the household work through you
The sentiment expressed herein was not merely a gesture of politeness.
Subsequent to the break-up of Gandhi's home at Johannesburg in 1 906, he
had been a regular member of Kallenbach's household . The latter would feel
hurt if his friend offered to pay him his share of the expenses, and would
plead that since the time Gandhi had joined him the cost of running the
house had in fact gone down. Living so long under the same roof, they had
developed an extraordinary warmth for each other. This was a case of friends
having ties as strong as those uniting the best of brothers.

As the prison term was nearing its end, Gandhi felt much stronger
both in mind and spirit. In his jail diary he wrote: 'I believe that the last three
months have been of great profit to me and I am ready today to bear much
heavier suffering without flinching. I see that satyagraha is assured of divine
help, and that in testing a satyagrahi the Creator imposes on him at every
step as much burden as he can bear.'

On May 24, 1909, Gandhi was released at 7.30 a.m. instead of 9
a.m., the usual time. The idea was to keep the level of commotion low.
Nevertheless, over a hundred Indians were already there to greet him. After
a brief while, he addressed a public meeting which was followed by a short
interview to Pretoria News. He was then escorted to the railway station for
his journey to Johannesburg. There too he received a hero's welcome. He
was taken to the Mosque grounds where a gathering of about a thousand
people including Indians, Chinese and some European sympathisers of the
Indian cause, were waiting to hear him. In the course of his speech he was
seized with emotion while saying that his aspiration would be realised only
if he could lay down his life in the service of his countrymen. Another point
that he made, as he had done at Pretoria, was about his inability to feel
satisfied on his release while their goal had not been accomplished and so
many of his associates were still in jail. His own son even now had more
than two months to complete his term.

Gandhi would have liked straightaway to take a trip to Natal and
on return court imprisonment again. But there was so much to be done
outside to keep the fight going. He immediately engaged himself in stirring
up the spirit of sacrifice among those associated with the struggle. The
movement had thrown up a number of ideal satyagrahis in contrast to
some others who did not mind resorting to underhand ways to take care of

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279

their comforts even after having been jailed. By the lavish praise he showered
on certain individuals who had earned distinction, Gandhi made great heroes
out of them, and they became a source of inspiration to others. Writing about
the suffering Ebrahim Ismail Aswat was put to, he remarked: 'He has lost about
30 pounds in weight. It seems he acted in perfect conformity with the spirit of
satyagraha. He did not even so much as touch food other than what he got in
gaol. He was a confirmed smoker, but he did not smoke even once during the
three months [of his imprisonment]. Indif-ferentto his business, he has offered
to go to gaol again.' On Mr. Aswat's release and that of Leung Quinn, a meeting
of Indians and Chinese was convened. In his speech at this reception, Gandhi
emphasised the importance of certain indirect gains from the prolonged struggle
which had, for instance, brought the Asians together.

As a group, the Tamil satyagrahis, endowed with an indomitable fighting
spirit, had done exceedingly well. Possessing a high level of political
consciousness, they had become more aware of their rights after the formation
of the Tamil Benefit Society. When the passive resistance campaign was
launched, this society gradually came to the forefront and became the
backbone of the Indian struggle. As the movement advanced, many other
sections of the community were showing signs of fatigue, but the majority of
Tamils remained firm. Another group that did not falter was that of Parsis. It
is on such unyielding satyagrahis , who were prepared to suffer to the last,
that Gandhi was depending for the Indian community's ultimate victory.

General Smuts, in no mood to relent, continued his policy of repression.
Not satisfied with jailing the satyagrahis, the Transvaal Government turned to
indiscriminate deportations. Gandhi considered it 'unnecessarily cruel': 'It
cuts me to the quick, to hear of a lad of sixteen being deported to India, while
his father remained in gaol at Volksrust. The Government are very much
mistaken if they imagine that they will break the heart of the Indians by
resorting to such cruel methods.'

Howsoever ruthless the Government was in taking repressive
measures, it could not crush the satyagraha movement. On the other hand,
it.thus invited pressure from a section of Europeans, who felt anxious that
the Government should be more humane in dealing with the Asiatic problem.
In the Indian camp while some persons were getting war-weary, the
persevering Tamils wanted to continue the struggle to its bitter end. The
overall situation was such that neither side was in a position to go forward
or backward. Now it was necessary for Gandhi to feel his way carefully
before making any further move. He was in a quandary when some leading
members of the Indian community, many of whom had all along been
sceptical about passive resistance, set up in June 1909 a Conciliation
Committee, with Hajee Habib as its Chairman, to again go to the Government
with a petition in the hope of bringing the struggle to an end. Gandhi knew
how fallacious this course of action would be, but did not raise his voice
against it. He attended its first meeting by special invitation. Some members
indulged in nit-picking against him. Even the Chairman tried to suggest

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

that Gandhi had been hasty in arriving at a compromise with the Government,
as a result of which the community had to go through prolonged suffering.
Gandhi sat unruffled. At the end he gave a brief reply, exceedingly gracious
in its tone as well as content. Ultimately he was proved right when the
committee failed to produce much impression on General Smuts. Essentially
all this was in the nature of a challenge to Gandhi's leadership and did not
take long to peter out.

About this time, all eyes were focused on the issues connected with
the draft constitution of the proposed Union of South African colonies about
which an agreement had been thrashed out by their leaders. The constituent
units were to retain separate franchise qualifications and immigration restriction
laws. In order to see that everything should go rightly when the Bill was taken
up by the Parliament, General Botha and Smuts and some other statesmen
of South Africa had planned to go to London. From the non-whites' point of
view, if they wanted their minimum rights to be recognized, this was the time
to seek the help of their sympathisers in the United Kingdom. On behalf of
the Cape coloureds, Dr. Abdurrahman had undertaken to go and plead their
case. The leading members of the Transvaal Indian community felt that it
would be advisable not to spare any effort to present its case properly at this
juncture. This line of thinking induced them to send two separate deputations,
one to England and the other to India, consisting of four members each.
When the special committee appointed to decide the personnel of the
delegation to England met on June 1 3, 1 909, those who stood for conciliation
again had a direct collision with the passive resisters. The latter were in a
minority in the committee and yet they succeeded in having their way. Even
Hajee Habib declared himself a passive resister, though it could not have
been without mental reservations. Out of this tussle Gandhi emerged as the
Transvaal Indian community's authentic leader.

The BIA was in a flutter when the Government arrested four out of eight
persons nominated for the two missions and refused to release them on
parole. In a way it was all for the good. The Association would have found it
difficult to produce funds for executing the proposal in toto. The deputation
that did sail from Cape Town for England on June 23, 1909 consisted of
Gandhi and Hajee Habib. Three days later, the one-man deputation, H.S.L.
Polak, also left for India. He was to educate the Indian public opinion about
satyagraha movement in the Transvaal.

In Gandhi's absence, the responsibility for his day-to-day work as
Hon. Secretary of the BIA was to be borne by Hermann Kallenbach with
Rev. Doke acting as a general adviser. There could have been no difficulty
about the BIA affairs under the presidentship of Mohammed Ahmed
Cachalia as long as Kallenbach had the able assistance of Sonja Schlesin
available to him. She had been Gandhi's Secretary for about three years.
In fact she was introduced to him by Kallenbach himself on Miss Dick's
departure after her marriage. He was, therefore, confident of full co¬
operation from her side.

ONE MORE SPELL IN ENGLAND

The four weeks spent by Gandhi in exceptional comfort on the R.M.S.
Kenilworth Castle that took him to England should have provided some
pleasant respite after the long period of stress caused by the satyagraha
movement. But he was not able to relish this break. Some of his closest
associates were still behind prison walls and his heart was with them. He
had serious doubts regarding much good coming from the labours in England
he was going for. The deputation, in his reckoning, was a symbol of the
Indian community's weakness. He could not forget that his people had
pinned their hopes on this mission: if it failed there would be no end to his
supporters' disappointment. So troubled was he by such thoughts that his
inner peace was gone: even his prayers lacked the depth and serenity they
had when he was in jail.

Dr. Abdurrahman heading the deputation on behalf of the Cape
coloureds was also sailing by the same ship. He told Gandhi what pains
W.P. Schreiner, the liberal Cape senator, had been taking to support the
non-whites' cause. He had already gone to England to plead their case,
and that too at his own expense. Other fellow-passengers on the boat
included John Xavier Merriman, the Prime Minister of Cape Colony and J.
W. Sauer, an important member of his cabinet. Gandhi talked to them at
considerable length and explained the precise nature of the Transvaal
Indians' problem. They were both sympathetic and agreed to help him,
presumably more out of politeness than anything else.

The deputation landed at Southampton on the morning of July 1 0,
1 909 and reached London within a few hours. By ill hap, this turned out to
be the most inopportune time for anyone coming to England in pursuit of
an Indian cause. Only a week earlier, Sir Curzon Wyllie, political ADC to
the Secretary of State for India, had been shot dead by an Indian student,
Madan Lai Dhingra, at a reception arranged by the National Indian
Association at the Imperial Institute in South Kensington. Dr. Cawas
Lalkaka, a Parsi doctor who had tried to save Sir Curzon Wyllie, was also
fatally wounded. When Gandhi arrived in London, the public attention was
still focused on this tragic happening. Apart from feeling bad about this
outrage, he was deeply agonized by the fact that many of the patriotic
Indians were being drawn to the cult of violence. What Dhingra had done
was in his view an act of cowardice: the way he had committed it
amounted to inviting a person home and killing him. As to the suggestion

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regarding great courage behind what Dhingra had done, knowing fully
well that he would lose his own life, Gandhi explained that the intoxication
caused by any wild thought seizing a person could remove all fear of death.
He had the moral courage to frankly talk about it to the 'stupid youngmen
who seemed to glory in the deed as one of national honour.' To Kallenbach
he had avowed that he would not aspire for his country's independence 'if
the price to be paid is assassination.'*

Such was Gandhi's concern with fair play and rectitude that he held
these views even while he carried the burden of the sad news received from
Johannesburg regarding a case of extreme brutality on the part of certain jail
officials. One of the satyagrahis, Nagappen, undergoing imprisonment with
hard labour and discharged before expiry of his term when he was already at
death's door, had met his end after a week. Gandhi was able to view it
philosophically because he believed that suffering like this even to the extent
of losing one's life was the essence of satyagraha.

***

Gandhi had reasons to be in low spirits at this stage. Yet he lost no
time in settling down to the task that had brought him to London. He quickly
set himself up at the Westminster Palace Hotel. His suite had a private sitting-
room where he could receive and talk to important visitors. Functioning with
this prestigious hotel as his base, he was assured of due attention from anyone
he chose to address. Louis Ritch, Secretary of the South Africa British Indian
Committee (SABIC), Gandhi's right hand in London, worked with great vigour
and resourcefulness. Lord Ampthill,** the President of this Committee, was to
be Gandhi's principal adviser. He could be depended upon as much for his
mature judgment as for his sincere interest in the cause of Indians in South
Africa. However, the fly in the ointment was his co-delegate, Hajee Habib,
whose difficult attitude he had to contend with. Although they had been getting
on well outwardly, deep down in his heart Hajee Habib carried a feeling that
Gandhi was too inflexible and that his own role was to tone him down. Gandhi
had learnt from Kallenbach that even while Hajee Habib was so far away, he
had tried to weaken the Transvaal Indian merchant community's will to fight.
Gandhi knew how to deal with him without giving him a chance to kick up a
row. He considered it providential that Habib had come with him as a

* Gandhi had elaborated this idea in the Indian Opinion of 14 August 1909:'... those who
believe and argue that such murders may do good to India are ignorant men indeed. No act
of treachery can ever profit a nation. Even should the British leave in consequence of such
murderous acts, who will rule in their place? The only answer is: the murderers.' CWMG,
Vol. IX, p. 303.

** Who had been the Governor of Madras Presidency from 1 899 to 1 906 with a short spell as
Acting Viceroy in 1904. He was now a member of the House of Lords, commanding a
good deal of influence.

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283

member of the delegation: his presence in South Africa while he himself was not
there would have been positively harmful.

•kirk

Most of the Englishmen who had come to Gandhi's help in 1906
were either no longer there or chose not to involve themselves in his affairs.
Dadabhai Naoroji, too, had gone to India. The first thing the delegation did
was to call on Sir Muncherjee Bhownaggree whereafter they had an interview
with Sir Richard Solomon, Lieutenant-Governor of the Transvaal, who also
was in London at this time. He gave them a very patient hearing. He studied
the legal aspect with good care. Though sympathetic, he did not commit
himself to anything beyond saying that he would talk to General Smuts.

How the delegation should proceed further was discussed at a
meeting with Lord Ampthill on July 1 5. Gandhi was at once impressed by
his transparent honesty and polite behaviour. Lord Ampthill was candid
about his reluctance to bring his connection with the SABIC into the
limelight. He advised the delegation to seek interviews with Lord Morley,
Secretary of State for India, and Lord Crewe, Secretary of State for Colonies,
but cautioned them against making any public statements. For his part,
he undertook to obtain Lord Curzon's support and engage in some quiet
lobbying and negotiation.

Lord Morley was good enough to grant a private interview to the
delegation without much delay. Fairly responsive, he said that he would
write to the Colonial Office in the matter. He also undertook to discuss
the question with General Smuts. The interview with Lord Crewe took
another two weeks to materialize. When Gandhi and Hajee Habib did
meet him, he received them well. Apparently he was prepared to extend
all possible help.

In the meantime, Lord Ampthill was busy playing the role of a
conscientious mediator. With Lord Curzon's backing, he established contact
with General Smuts, Lords Selborne, Morley and Crewe and others who
could have some influence over them. In the general atmosphere prevailing
at this time it was quite natural on the part of persons who mattered to
ventilate a suspicion that passive resistance movement in the Transvaal
was possibly being fomented and financed by some radical elements in
India. When Lord Ampthill asked for a clarification about these allegations,
Gandhi gave him an emphatic assurance that the struggle led by him had
no connection whatsoever with any extremist movement in India. Lest
there should be any room for doubt regarding his approach to the events
in his own country, he went on to add:

It would be improper for me not to add that I follow what is

going on in India with the keenest interest and some [phases]

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

of the [national] movement with the gravest anxiety ... I know
that ... British subjects, no matter to what race they belong,
have never got and never can get their rights until they ... are
willing to fight for them. The fight takes the form either of
physical violence, as in the case of extremists in India, or of
personal suffering by the fighters, as in the case of our passive
resisters in the Transvaal. In my opinion, the first form of
seeking redress is largely barbarous and, in any case,
inconsistent with the genius of the people of India, not because
they are physically too weak to take that course, but because
their training has adapted them to the latter mode, and I am
free to confess that passive resistance in the Transvaal is a
practical demonstration to the party of violence in India that
they are entirely on the wrong track and that, as long as they
pin their faith to violence for obtaining relief of any kind
whatsoever, so long are they beating the air.

In his search for a reasonable settlement, Lord Ampthill's efforts at
persuasion had gradually led to a position which made it necessary for him to
ask Gandhi whether he would feel satisfied in case the Act of 1 907 was repealed
and a promise was given that six Indians would be admitted to the Transvaal
annually. He wanted to have a clear answer to this question because it had
been asserted by some of the important persons he had met that the Indians
would never be content and that any concessions made would lead to fresh
demands. The Indian community's immediate claims in fact did not go beyond
the basis on which Lord Ampthill was striving to bring about a settlement.
While accepting this position, Gandhi had one important stipulation to make.
He insisted that the Immigration Law should be amended so as to leave it open
for a few Indians to enter the Transvaal under the general education test. The
number of those coming in, according to him, could be limited to six, not in the
law itself, but byway of administrative regulation. This he suggested, could be
done by imposing a severe enough test whereby the Immigration Officer could
see to it that not more than six Indians passed it in any one year.

Regarding the genera! problem of discrimination against Indians and
the apprehension that any concession was bound to give rise to further
expectations, Gandhi stated his position unreservedly. There undoubtedly
were other grievances that his community had in the Transvaal outside the
purview of the passive resistance movement and for their redressal the Indians
would have to trouble the local authorities and even seek His Lordship's
assistance, but they could certainly wait for public opinion to mature and
prejudices to die out.

The manner in which Lord Ampthill was going about the problem
offered Gandhi little hope of an early breakthrough. Sir Muncherjee in
particular was getting impatient with this approach. Though Gandhi had
been very cautious in communicating with Lord Ampthill, in one of his letters he

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285

could not help disclosing the fact that Sir Muncherjee, who had felt peeved
about General Smuts intentionally delaying the matter to prevent an open
discussion of the subject, was insistent on circulating a public statement.
Ampthill's reaction was:

Nothing would be more unfortunate than that Sir Muncherjee
and I should be at cross purposes and that must be avoided
... I cannot "insist", as you tell me Sir Muncherjee does; I can
only advise. It is for you to choose between his advice and
mine. Your choice lies between the "diplomatic" and the
"political" method. If you choose the former, then you must
leave the conduct of the business entirely to me ... Diplomacy
is only possible through individual agency and by private action.

If, however, you choose the political method, then I will stand
aside altogether so as to leave Sir Muncherjee a free hand. I
could not take part in a course of action which seems to me
inappropriate and erroneous at the present juncture.

Immediately on reading this letter, Gandhi sent a telegram to Lord
Ampthill, assuring him that nothing would be done without consultation with
His Lordship.

Ampthill spared no effort to play the part left to him. After having used
all his persuasion in the Transvaal Government camp, he had a long discussion
with Gandhi on August 9, and brought him round to making a concession
which he thought should bring within reach an arrangement acceptable to
both parties. Gandhi, in his anxiety to secure somehow a theoretical equality
between the Asians and whites for purposes of immigration, had now agreed
to an amendment of the Immigration Act with a provision empowering the
Governor-in-Council to regulate the number of persons belonging to different
nationalities who may be allowed to enter the Colony as immigrants,
notwithstanding their having passed the prescribed examination. But he had
requested Ampthill not to bring him into the picture while proposing this
amendment to General Smuts and, if nothing came out of it, to treat it as if it
had never been suggested.

The very next day Ampthill wrote to General Smuts: 'I went to see Mr.
Gandhi yesterday afternoon and spoke to him in accordance with your
suggestions, but without saying that they came from you. I found him as clear,
convincing, and unyielding from his point of view as you are from yours, and after
two hours of argument, in which we discussed the question from every standpoint,
practical, political, legal and ethical, I came away in despair of any compromise.'
Having opened the letter on this note along with some general remarks meant to
impress upon Smuts the validity of Gandhi's fight for a principle, Ampthill revealed
to him the trump-card he was holding as if it was his own. The way he wanted the
Immigrants' Restriction Act to be amended would have given to the Indian community
no more than what General Smuts was prepared to offer, i.e., admission

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of a maximum of six Indians annually as permanent residents. At the same
time, it would have avoided making an invidious distinction in law between
Asians and other immigrants.

The correspondence and the record of discussions that Ampthill had
with Crewe and Smuts reflect the diligence with which he had tried to bring
about a settlement of the vexed question. He was quite successful as far
as pleading the case with Lord Crewe was concerned. But he found it
impossible to prevail upon Smuts to accept the arrangement that had been
suggested by him. According to the proposals the General had chalked out
in his final communication on the subject to Lord Crewe, Act 2 of 1 907 was
to be repealed and permanent certificates of residence were to be granted
annually to a limited number of educated Indian immigrants. Evidently he
was not prepared to concede the Asiatics' theoretical right to equality in the
matter of immigration.

Lord Crewe, on the other hand, had understood what was impelling
Gandhi to insist on theoretical equality. The latter was, therefore, hopeful of a
positive outcome of the ongoing negotiations until he learnt from Ampthill that
Smuts had not accepted the specific suggestion which aimed at removing
the racial taint on the Statute-book. Even after the General had left London,
Gandhi did not give up his efforts to get His Majesty's Government round to
finding a way out of the difficulty. The delegation again waited on Lord Crewe.
On getting back to his hotel after this interview, Gandhi wrote a letter to Lord
Ampthili in which, apart from other things, he stated that the Secretary of
State had agreed to cable to General Smuts to press upon him acceptance
of the amendment in question. As it turned out, there had been some
misunderstanding. According to the official record, whiie Lord Crewe was to
reiterate Gandhi's determination to hold out for theoretical equality, he intended
to urge the implementation of Smuts' own proposals.

The erroneous impression which Gandhi and Hajee Habib had carried
from the second interview with Lord Crewe on September 16 held them
back in London for a few more weeks. They naturally considered it
necessary to wait till they knew on what lines the Transvaal Government
proposed to move after receiving the cable sent by the Secretary of State
subsequent to his discussion with the Indian delegates. During this period
of suspense Gandhi was having to bear up against direct as well as indirect
pressure brought on him by Hajee Habib that he should accept the terms
offered by Smuts. Gandhi could well imagine that things would have been
quite different if the Indian community had been completely united and
had maintained a strong front. He was of the firm belief that if one was
weak from inside the opponent would inevitably seize upon the weakness,
no matter what effort one made to conceal it. Gandhi wrote about it to
Kallenbach: 'Such has been the case with [our] friend Habib. Smuts can
feel it and so can Lord Crewe. What wonder then if both of them be in no
hurry to end the struggle? We have to be patient and fight internal forces
as well as external that are ranged against us.'

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287

It was on November 3 that the Colonial Office sent a letter to Gandhi
making it clear to him that the proposals made by Smuts would be the only
possible basis of legislation regarding the British Indian controversy in the
Transvaal. Gandhi was mentally prepared to receive such a reply, but to Lord
Ampthill it came as a rude shock.

From Gandhi's standpoint the mission on which he had come to
London had failed. On November 5 he released a statement on the
Transvaal Indian case which in deference to Lord Ampthill's wishes had
been held back so long as the negotiations were in progress. In going to
the Press at this late stage he was guided by the consideration that the
people at large should not be misled into the belief that the Transvaal
Indians were being unduly obdurate. He explained at length why they
could not be content with the ’specious concessions' that were being
offered by Mr. Smuts while he remained unwilling to remove 'the implied
racial taint from the legislation.'

It was clear from Gandhi's pronouncements that he was determined
to continue the passive resistance movement until at least the limited goal
he had set for the Transvaal's Asian community was achieved. Lord Ampthill,
meanwhile, was anxious that this 'quixotic struggle' should come to an
end. He had argued with Gandhi and Hajee Habib that General Botha was
conceding practically ail their substantive demands. As far as the principle
of equality in legal terms was concerned, they could fight for it later. Hajee
Habib chose to accept for the time being the concession offered by Genera!
Botha. Gandhi did not mind Hajee Habib taking this position on behalf of
the Conciliation Committee, representing at that time the politically stronger
section of the community. He affirmed, however, that the Indians for whom
he himself spoke, though comparatively poor and small in number, were
determined to carry on the fight to the last. Gandhi left Lord Ampthill free to
tell General Botha how his offer had been received by the Indian delegation.
Nothing could have pleased the Transvaal Government more than the note of
continued disharmony within the Indian camp. If this friendly rift did not
grow into an incurable rupture, it was because Gandhi's commitment to
principles was tempered with limitless patience.

Despite the fact that his advice had not found favour with Gandhi, Lord
Ampthill was gracious enough to tell him:

You must not suppose that i will give you up. ! too must play
the gentleman’s part... Yours is a righteous struggle and you
are fighting with clean weapons. How possibly can I give you
up? But you can realise my delicate position. The suffering, if
any, must be borne by you alone, and therefore it is my duty to
advise you to accept any settlement possible in the
circumstances. But if you, who have to suffer, are prepared to
undergo any amount of suffering for principle's sake, ! must not
only not come in your way but even congratulate you. I will therefore

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

continue as President of your Committee and help you to the
best of my ability.

Ampthill had known enough about Gandhi and his praiseworthy work
through Louis Ritch. After having dealt with him from close quarters His Lordship
had come to admire him more ardently. This is also evident from the introduction
he wrote about this time to Joseph Doke's book M.K. Gandhi — An Indian
Patriot in South Africa. There is little doubt that he had read the manuscript
with great care. This was the first biography of Gandhi. Ballasted by Lord
Ampthill's long introduction, the book was a timely answer to his detractors
who did not hesitate to denounce him as 'an ordinary agitator', indulging in
Vulgar defiance of the law', with motives of 'self-interest and pecuniary profit.'
This biographical account, though modest in its scope, was a good instrument
not only of silencing Gandhi's critics but also for promoting a better understanding
of the problems confronting Indians in the Transvaal and Natal.

★**

As leader of the mission, Gandhi may not have achieved all that he
was aiming at. Thanks to his image as the force behind a unique, heart¬
stirring movement in the Transvaal, the Colonial Office could not but give
the most careful thought to the legitimacy of his demands and the long¬
term implications of continued repression of the Indian community from the
Imperial viewpoint. They did not for a moment dispute the rightness of his
claims to equality before the law. They only felt powerless to enforce their
views on a colony already granted responsible government. Their thinking
on the subject is revealed in an official minute recorded on November 1 5-
1 6, 1 909: 'It is a strong case and well stated and when the Union Government
is ... launched ...we shall have to make an effort to get an immigration law
on the lines of Natal and Australia and the Governor-General should be
instructed accordingly before the time comes. But, for the mo-ment, we
must take the concessions which T ransvaal offers.'

Gandhi had at least made some mark. Dr. Abdurrahman, on the other
hand, returned to the Cape empty-handed. When the Union Bill was discussed
by the Parliament, many members had expressed their regret over racial
discrimination against the coloureds and yet the legislation was passed without
removing the blemish. This was the net result of all efforts made by Dr.
Abdurrahman and his unflinching supporter W.P. Schreiner. According to
Gandhi, salvation of the coloured people in the Cape also lay in the sovereign
remedy of passive resistance.

The mission from Natal led by Abdul Caadir too had not fared any
better. The Natal Indians' afflictions were many. The delegates, however,
chose to restrict their representation at this particular time to three serious
grievances. The first one was the extremely unjust Dealers' Licensing Act
(1897) and the tyrannical manner in which it was being administered in

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relation to the Indian traders with no right of appeal to the Supreme Court.
The second one was the cruelty with which the indentured Indians who had
finished their contract period were being compelled to leave the Colony by
imposing on them and their grown-up children a prohibitive special annual tax
of £3 per head. The third issue brought up was denial of proper educational
facilities to the Indian children. The brief statement containing these
protestations did not conceal the fear in which the Indian community of Natal
was approaching the proposed Union of the South African colonies,
representing a combination of hostile forces which hitherto had been working
independently of one another. When the Natal Indian delegation waited on
the Secretary of State for Colonies, the lip sympathy it received from him was
devoid of any assurance that he would urge upon the colonial Government
redressal of the grievances in question. In this case also Gandhi wanted
everyone to understand that it was only through satyagraha that the Natal
Indians could improve their lot.

***

It is not certain if the Indian missions would have done better but for the
shadow cast by the assassination of Sir Curzon Wyllie. In any case, Gandhi
was all the time conscious of the fact that this unfortunate occurrence had
prejudiced many persons in England who would otherwise have been more
sympathetic to the cause of Indians in South Africa. More important than its
implications from the standpoint of practical politics was the torrent of fresh
ideas which came to dominate his thinking consequent upon this terrible
tragedy. Gandhi had already known enough about the Indian radicals and the
cult of violence prevalent among them . During his visit to London in 1 906 he
had come in close contact with Shyamji Krishnavarma. This distinguished
Indian, the first one to receive an Oxford post-graduate degree, had served as
Chief Minister of an Indian princely state (Udaipur). Later he returned to England
and spearheaded Indian radicalism in Britain. Though wealthy, he lived like an
ascetic. Terrorist activities formed part of his creed. Wedded to the cause of
complete swaraj for India, he provided support to a large number of Indian
students nursing in their hearts the desire to liberate their country. It is with this
object that he had founded the India House at his own cost. The monthly
organ, The Indian Sociologist , set up by him was the main instrument for
dissemination of his ideas. Gandhi was irresistibly drawn to Krsihnavarma
although the outlook of the two persons had nothing in common except love of
their country. In their long talks both of them held their ground tenaciously and
there was no question of agreement between them.

When Gandhi went to England in 1 909, Shyamji had taken refuge
in Paris, with agents of the British secret police keeping a watchful eye
on his activities. The person who was wielding authority over the India
House at this time was Vinayak Savarkar. He was already a suspect in the
killing of Curzon Wyllie, and was after a few months arrested on the charge of

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

involvement in the murder of Mr. Jackson, District Magistrate of Nasik, the
case finally resulting in his transportation for life to the Andaman Islands.
Gandhi steered clear of the activities of the India House which had fallen
into disrepute. Yet during his stay in London he met as many Indian radicals
as he could in order to know more about their viewpoint and to convince
them, if possible, that they were on the wrong path. The revolutionaries on
their part abhorred Gandhi's politics of non-violent protest and passive
resistance and were not prepared to believe that India could ever become
free without resorting to violence.

Gandhi and Savarkar, wedded to diametrically opposite creeds, came
across each other at a function in celebration of Dussehra, the well-known
Indian festival. In the speech delivered by Gandhi on this occasion, his emphasis
was on the moral values on which the conduct of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita
was based. It was by imbibing their ideals that Indians could liberate their
country. This was the only way truth could triumph over falsehood. The burden
of Savarkar's speech was the primacy of power represented by the goddess
Durga. Rama, according to him was able to establish his ideal kingdom only
after destroying Ravana, the symbol of oppression and injustice. This direct
encounter with an acknowledged champion of terrorist activity, in the wake of
the discussions he had already had with a number of radicals, left Gandhi
drowned in serious thought.

***

Interestingly, it is during this spell in London that an important facet of
Gandhi's character, viz., the extraordinary intensity of his personal ties, was for
the first time revealed in the letters he wrote to Kallenbach. They addressed
each other as Upper House and Lower House, the logic behind which could be
Gandhi's part as the spiritual monitor and the other one taking the responsibility
for the temporal aspects. These bynames together emphasized the existential
identity between the two which Gandhi would many a time condense into the
phrase 'one soul in two bodies'. Kallenbach in search of emotional and spiritual
security was in so great a need of cathartic outpouring about himself and the
people around him that he did not want to hold back anything. At the same
time he did not like what he was writing to be known to anybody else. Gandhi
ensured this by destroying the letters after he had read them. Kallenbach,
however, was prudent enough to preserve the letters he was receiving from his
guide, friend and philosopher. An idea of the bond that united the two can be
had by closely looking at an excerpt from Gandhi's letter of August 30,1909:

I continue to receive your ... charming love notes. That you
should describe Mrs. Gandhi as your mother shows your
ultraregard for me. You have reached a stage in which you refuse
to recognize my limitations. How shall I retain such an exalted

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291

standard! Do I merit such affection? Shall I be able to live up to
it? I will not disturb your love. It can do you only good: me it can
drag down if there be ... in me ... selfishness in my relations
with you. That you can make yourself comfortable in my home
(have I one?) without me and with all the awkward ways of Mrs.
Gandhi and the children shows the height you have attained.

You remind me of friendships of bygone ages of which one reads
in history [books] and novels. S shall ... pray that I may ever
retain the seat I have found in your heart and that I may do
nothing to forfeit that love which is almost superhuman.

The unique relationship between Gandhi and Kallenbach represents
on a personal plane the peak on which East and West may meet like the two
faces of a mountain.

Gandhi was always on the lookout for anything important about
India appearing in the British Press. When he came upon G.K. Chesterton's
highly provocative article on Indian awakening in The Illustrated London
News of September 1 8, he read it with the greatest care. He took special
note of Chesterton's caustic remarks about Krishnavarma's journal The
Indian Sociologist, completely sold on Herbert Spencer's formulations.
Chesterton had rightly understood the nature of the conflict between the
two different civilizations in India. He did not like the idea of Indian
nationalists blindly clamouring for alien institutions nurtured by the
conquerors of their country.

During the last few weeks of Gandhi's stay in England after his work
was more or less finished and he was just waiting to find out the ultimate result
of Whitehall's lukewarm intervention, he was having very little to do but so
much to reflect on. About this time, Gandhi received through a friend what
came to be called Tolstoy's Letter to a Hindoo. It was in fact his reply to a letter
written to him by Tarak Nath Das, an Indian revolutionary in Canada, editor of
the journal Free Hindustan published from Vancouver. He had asked Tolstoy's
advice as to how the people of India could liberate their country. The answer
given by the Russian sage was simple. According to him, the Indians were
their own slaves, not of the British: how could a commercial company comprising
about thirty thousand persons enslave 200 millions of vigorous, clever, strong,
freedom-loving people? The sum and substance of Tolstoy's prescription was:
Indians should just refuse to participate in the governance of their country by
an alien power, whether it related to collection of taxes, functioning of law-
courts or recruitment to the army. Gandhi had long been reading Tolstoy's
writings and had imbibed many of his ideas. But this letter directly concerning
India's central problem had an electrifying effect on him.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Gandhi was still intoxicated by Tolstoy's Letter to a Hindoo, when he
received a request to address a meeting held under the auspices of the
Hampstead Peace and Arbitration Society at the Friends' Meeting House.
The subject of the talk assigned to him was 'East and West', an issue which
as a matter of coincidence had dominated his thinking for some time. No
wonder, a good part of his speech revolved around the evil consequences of
British rule in India, and the agonizing experience of Indians in South Africa.
It was a stormy meeting, with Gandhi using sharp language at times and
some persons among the audience reacting virulently. Anyhow, Gandhi
relentlessly argued that the modern civilization had done no good to India.
The network of railways and the telecommunication systems was, according
to him, a symbol of slavery. The new travelling facilities had reduced India's
pilgrimage centres to unholy places. He could picture to himself the Benares
of old, before the mad rush of civilization had overtaken it. He had seen with
his own eyes the extent to which this holy place had been defiled. The simple
conclusion Gandhi had come to was that there was no insurmountable barrier
between East and West; if the West wanted to come to terms with the East,
it must concern itself with man's spiritual need. As for him, he stood for the
outright rejection of modern civilization and its craze for material comforts.
He was not prepared to make an exception even of medical science: 'Hospitals
are the instruments that the Devil has been using for his own purpose, in
order to keep his hold on his kingdom. They perpetuate vice, misery and
degradation and real slavery ... If there were no hospitals for venereal
diseases, or even for consumption, we should have less consumption,
and less sexual vice amongst us.'

India's salvation, according to Gandhi, lay in unlearning what she
had learnt during the past fifty years: The railways, telegraphs, hospitals,
lawyers, doctors, and such like have all to go, and the so-called upper
classes have to learn to iive conscientiously and religiously and deliberately
the simple peasant life, knowing it to be a life giving true happiness. Indians
should wear no machine-made clothing, whether it comes out of European
... or Indian mills.' His vision of the ideal society was based on the axiom
that the peasant's work was the most wholesome occupation for mankind:
the life of an industrial worker was at the other extreme.

•kirk

When it became clear that the Colonial Office, whatever its own
thinking, could do nothing more to bring round Botha and Smuts to place
even the highly educated Indians in a position of bare legal equality with
Europeans in regard to the right of entry into the Colony, Gandhi and Hajee
Habib booked their return passage. One day before their departure, at a
farewell meeting in Westminster Palace Hotel on November 12, hosted
by Rev. F.B. Meyer, and attended among others by Sir Muncherjee Bhownaggree

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293

and Motilal Nehru, Gandhi made a fervent appeal to the people of Britain to
extend moral support to Indian passive resisters in the Transvaal and tell
their Government that they would be no party to the Pretoria regime's crime
against Imperial conscience. He wanted them to know that a large part of the
resident Indian community had already been to jails, that one young man
had died of pneumonia contracted in the prison, that fathers and sons had
together courted imprisonment, that mothers had taken up baskets and sold
fruit in the streets in order to support themselves and their children while their
husbands were incarcerated and that many families had been pauperized.
His brethren in the Transvaal had chosen to go through these sufferings for
the principle of equality, the very bed-rock on which the foundations of the
British constitution rested. It would be impossible for him and his countrymen
to owe allegiance to an Empire in which they were not to be accepted, even
in theory, as equals. Gandhi felt satisfied when those present at the meeting
unanimously resolved to express their earnest sympathy with the T ransvaal
British Indians in their peaceful struggle for civic rights and to offer their warmest
encouragement to them in this endeavour.

A little over four months Gandhi had spent in England this time would
rank among the most critical periods of his political career. Whatever work he
did and its success or failure apart, the storm that had gathered in the
innermost depths of his being as a result of his interaction with the Indian
supporters of terrorist activity, his growing disenchantment with the nature of
British imperialism, his renewed exposure to Tolstoy's world view and the
intellectual churning he had experienced while preparing for his talk on the
East-West dichotomy already referred to, was going to have a decisive role
in determining his future course of life. This was the state of mind in which he
was to feel compelled to write the Hind Swaraj.

HIND SWARAJ

A fortnight before Gandhi boarded s.s. Kildonan Castle for his return
voyage to South Africa, he specially addressed Lord Ampthill to share
with him what he thought of the British rule in India, the consequent intrusion
of modern civilization, breaking up of the old village system and the newly
awakened national consciousness among her people. This letter was an
extension of what he had said at Hampstead (p.292). The issues that had
now come to occupy his mind had been of interest to him earlier too. But
when after his practical experience of passive resistance he found himself
in argument with certain Indian revolutionaries in England he had to think
over the aforesaid problems more deeply. The substance of the conclusions
arrived at by him and set out in his letter to Lord Ampthill was as follows:
The British rule with endless commercial greed as its driving force had
done serious harm to India. The modernization brought in by it had ruined
the country. The people now had no patience left to withstand it any longer.
Their repression would be of no avail. Britain would be well-advised to give
what India wanted without delay. The best thing would be if the British
themselves discarded modern civilization. If that was asking too much,
they should at least not impose it on India. It did not matter so much as to
who ruled this country. What was very important was that the rulers
governed according to the people's wishes, failing which India would have
no option but put up a fight which could be non-violent (based on soul-
force) or violent. The latter course again meant acceptance of modern
civilization with all its wrack and ruin. The new tidal wave of nationalism
was unfortunately flowing in this direction. No one seemed to believe that
India could become free without resort to violence though, according to
Gandhi, the sovereign remedy truly lay in satyagraha.

Crystallisation of these ideas had been a gradual process. By the
time Gandhi left the shores of England, his thoughts had not only taken
organized shape but had also gained so much passion and power that he
had an irresistible urge to set them down in black and white. During the
voyage, Gandhi had plenty of time to himself. Sea-sickness could have
claimed a part thereof but he was immune to it. He took up pen and paper
and began to pour out his soul in the form of dialogues between an editor,
representing Gandhi himself, and his reader standing for a patriotic Indian,
overweighed by the commonly held notions including the bejief that use of
violence was absolutely necessary for liberating India. Working at

HIND SWARAJ

295

break-neck speed for nine days Gandhi wrote in Gujarati, leaf after leaf, 271
pages in all. When his right hand grew tired he would switch over to the left. The
resultant composition, consisting of twenty dialogues, written in his typical
overlarge long hand, when printed, could fit into about sixty pages. The name
given to it was Hind Swaraj. It was published in Indian Opinion in two parts on
December 1 1 and 1 8, 1 909, and issued as a booklet in January 1910.

When Gandhi laboured on this piece of writing, distinguished as
much for its unearthly message as its simple, terse language, he was
driven by an urge to ventilate publicly the ripples in his soul never
experienced before with such intensity. He was anxious to protect his
country from the rising tide of terrorism that had come up as an answer to
the damage done to India because of its subjugation by Britain. His aim
was to get through to the young anarchists, put his viewpoint before them
as persuasively as possible and by this means influence their thinking.
For this purpose he could not have chosen a better medium than that of
dialogues, easy to read and understand. The reader whom he sought to
educate, by no means an imaginary figure, was an authentic prototype of
a revolutionary Indian, confused in mind and yet imbued with a high sense
of patriotism and earnest desire to grapple with the ills that had seized
his country. Hereafter he will be referred to as Mr. X. The starry-eyed
editor will be called by his real name Gandhi.

The dialogues open with a question about the Home Rule wave
passing over India. Mr. X has a serious doubt regarding the role of the
Indian National Congress, a body looked at by many young Indians as
an instrument for perpetuating British rule. Gandhi explains the nature
of ground-work done by the Congress and the part played by pioneering
Englishmen like Allan Octavian Hume, William Wedderburn, etc., and
eminent Indian leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji* and Gopal Krishna
Gokhale. He finds it extremely difficult to convince Mr. X that even some
Englishmen could be so well-disposed.

Although Gandhi is able to remove some of the doubts overshadowing
Mr. X's mind, the latter still feels that the Congress could not be credited
with having caused a real awakening. Gandhi, therefore, tries to bring the
seminal role of the Congress into sharper focus and also mark out the
activities undertaken by it after the Partition of Bengal.** To make the position
clear, he elaborates on the swadeshi movement and all other things that
followed from it, including the Congress split into the moderates and the
extremists. He expresses the hope that this internal rift will not last long.
He concedes that what the country has experienced is not complete
awakening. What was originally some sort of discontent has grown into
unrest comparable to the state between sleep and waking up.

* Interestingly, the appellation 'Father of the nation' which Indians have now reserved for
Gandhi was first used by Gandhi himself in this dialogue while referring to Dadabhai Naoroji.

** In this dialogue, the levy of salt tax has been referred to by Gandhi as a serious injustice
towards India's poor people.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Mr. X at this point requests Gandhi to Set him know what exactly he
means by swaraj. For his own part, he thinks in terms of driving away the British
from India because their rule has resulted in impoverishment of the country. The
most important posts are held by Englishmen. They behave insolently. The
people are kept in a state of slavery. Their feelings are disregarded. With Gandhi
trying to draw him out further, Mr. X asserts: 'As is Japan, so must India be. We
must own our navy, our army, and we must have ... splendour, and then will
India's voice ring through the world.' Right away, Gandhi comes up with a noteworthy
observation: 'In effect it means this: that we want English rule without the
Englishman. You want the tiger's nature, but not the tiger; that is to say, you
would make India English ... This is not the swaraj I want.' Before proceeding
further, Gandhi wants Mr. X to understand England's own condition which,
according to him, is pitiable: 'I pray to God that India may never be in that plight.
That which you consider to be the mother of parliaments is like a sterile woman
and a prostitute. Both these are harsh terms, but exactly fit the case. The
Parliament has not yet, of its own accord, done a single good thing. Hence I have
compared it to a sterile woman ... It is like a prostitute because it is under the
control of ministers who change from time to time.'* Having started this line of
argument, he dilates on it until the most prized institution of British democracy
looks an utter farce, a costly toy of the nation. He quotes Carlyle who called it
the 'talking shop of the world'.

Since the subject of discussion at this stage is the nature of British
democracy, Mr. X also wants to know what Gandhi thinks of the English
as a people, in reply the latter points out that the British have one quality very
strongly developed, i.e., they would never allow their country to come to
harm. In the same breath, Gandhi emphasises that if India, in imitation of
England and other such countries, tries to embrace modern civilization she
would only ruin herself.

With its emphasis on material comforts, physical pleasures,
mechanised system of production, sophisticated and more destructive arms,
speedy communications and means of transport, this civilization, according
to Gandhi, is more a disease than anything else. He particularly refers to the
miserable condition of the workers and their womenfolk under the new modes
of production. Formerly, the people were made slaves under physical
compulsion. Now they are enslaved by temptation of the comforts and luxuries
that money can buy. There is no room for morality in their way of life. The
entire social system is heading towards self-destruction.

Mr. X feels surprised that a nation afflicted by so deadly a disease
should have been able to subjugate a country like India and hold on to it.
On this issue, Gandhi has to draw upon well-known facts of history. The
British came to India for trade. Those Indians who benefited from it assisted
the Company's officers. Gradually they gained a foothold in the

* Some years later, Gandhi said about Hind Swaraj that except for withdrawing the word
'prostitute' used in connection with the British Parliament, which had annoyed an English
lady, he wished to make no change at all.

HIND SWARAJ

297

sub-continent. When the Indian princes, fighting among themselves,
sought their help they had the opportunity to entrench themselves, using
for this purpose armed forces employed to protect their warehouses.
The very factors that helped the British gain control over India have enabled
them to perpetuate their rule. The British are a nation of shopkeepers,
not much concerned about moral reckoning. They would do anything on
earth for the sake of their commerce. Someone had once asked President
Kruger of the Transvaal whether there was gold on the moon. He had
replied that it was highly unlikely because, if there were, the British
would have annexed it. Such are the people to whom India lost itself and
not without good reason.

Mr. X now wants to have a clear idea of India's present condition. One
important thought that Gandhi is anxious to project: 'It is my deliberate opinion
that India is being ground down, not under the English heel, but under that of
modern civilization. It is groaning under the monster's terrible weight ... Religion
is dear to me and my first complaint is that India is becoming irreligious.
Here I am not thinking of the Hindu or the Mohammedan or the Zoroastrian
religion but of that religion which underlies all religions. We are turning away
from God.' Then follows a brief discussion regarding religion versus civilization.
Gandhi accepts that human history is replete with acts of brutality in the
name of religion. But all that has happened in the name of civilization is much
worse. He compares it to a mouse gnawing while to the victim it seems
soothing. This exactly is the nature of the so-called blessings which British
rule is supposed to have brought to India.

Taking the case of railways, Gandhi stresses the fact that but for the
railway network the English could not have trapped India into their stranglehold
so badly. That is not all: railways are the carriers of epidemics; they have
even increased the frequency of famines. Above all, the railways have increased
the scope for all kinds of immorality.

Not satisfied with this altogether dark picture, Mr. X expresses an
opinion that 'all the disadvantages of railways are more than
counterbalanced by the fact that it is due to them that we see in India
the new spirit of nationalism.' Gandhi is immediately provoked to call a
lie to the commonly held belief that India was hardly a nation before the
advent of the British in this country. Even in ancient times the location of
holy places in all corners of India had 'fired the people with an idea of
nationality in a manner unknown in other parts of the world.' This country
has had an old tradition of people with different faiths living in peace. It is
only after its enslavement that some quarrels have arisen, with a third
party present to decide them.

Knowing that the cow has sometimes been the cause of conflict
between Hindus and Mohammedans, Mr. X invites Gandhi to express his
views on the subject. The latter acknowledges his affectionate reverence for
the cow, but goes on to add: just as he respects the cow, so does he respect
his fellow-men. Obstinacy in a matter like this is pointless. In fact

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

when the Hindus became insistent, the killing of cows increased. Gandhi's
concern goes beyond protecting the cow's life. He is equally disturbed when
people treat the animal with cruelty.

The discussion now shifts to the Hindus and Mohammedans living
together in amity. Mr. X has a doubt if that is ever possible as long as the
British are there to divide them. Gandhi's answer is simple: if two brothers
want to live in peace, how is it possible for a third party to separate them?
He counsels generosity on the part of Hindus who can afford it since they
are in a majority and pretend to be more educated. Elaborating on it, he
adds: There is mutual distrust between the two communities. The
Mohammedans, therefore, ask for certain concessions from Lord Morley.
Why should the Hindus oppose it? If the Hindus desisted, the English
would notice it, the Mohammedans would gradually begin to trust the Hindus,
and brotherliness would be the outcome.'

The law-courts, according to Gandhi, are one of the most important
instruments of British rule in India. If the people were to settle their own
quarrels, someone else would not be able to exercise authority over them.
There was a time when two persons having something to quarrel about
settled their disputes either by fighting or by asking their relatives to decide
for them. In the latter case, the quarrelling parties would invariably be
advised not to fight. With the setting up of law courts, came the profession
of lawyers who, as a rule, advance quarrels instead of repressing them.
They take up this work, not in order to help others out of their miseries,
but to enrich themselves. Their interest lies in multiplying disputes. Gandhi's
concluding remark: 'What I have said with reference to the pleaders
necessarily applies to the judges; they are first cousins, and the one
gives strength to the other.'

Gandhi, himself having been a practising lawyer for many years,
knew the legal system inside out. Although he was able to keep his own
professional conduct in tandem with his conscience, he had seen what
wrongs were committed in the name of law, which explains the vehemence
with which he castigates this facet of civilized life. His criticism of the
medical profession is equally sharp.

Mr. X now comes to a more fundamental problem: You have denounced
railways, lawyers and doctors. I can see that you will discard all machinery. What,
then, is civilization?' Civilization, according to Gandhi, is that mode of conduct
which points out to man the path of duty. Judged from that standard, India has
little to learn from the West. At this point Gandhi throws some light on the virtues
of India's own civilization: The more we indulge our passions, the more unbridled
they become. Our ancestors, therefore, set a limit to our indulgences ... dissuaded
us from luxuries and pleasures ... We have had no system of life-corroding
competition. Each followed his own occupation or trade and charged a regulation
wage ... This nation had courts, lawyers and doctors, but they were all within
bounds. Everybody knew that these professions were not particularly
superior; moreover, these vakils and vaids did not rob people; they were

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299

considered people’s dependants, not their masters. Justice was tolerably
fair. The ordinary rule was to avoid courts ... The common people lived
independently and followed their agricultural occupation. They enjoyed true
Home Rule.' Mr. X looks at Gandhi sceptically and refers to a host of social
ills prevalent in Indian society. The latter at once acknowledges the existence
of certain evil practices but adds that they must not be mistaken for India's
ancient civilization. His faith in its soundness is complete and absolute: '... it
behoves every lover of India to cling to the old Indian civilization even as a
child clings to the mother's breast.'

Mr. X undertakes to think over the views expressed by Gandhi. But
he wants to know after all how India could attain freedom. Before answering
this question Gandhi wants Mr. X to note that those alone who have been
affected by western civilization have become enslaved, if those people rid
themselves of slavery, the country would be free. Gandhi again cautions
Mr. X against thinking in terms of expulsion of the English from the country.
If the English become Indianised, he sees no difficulty in accommodating
them in the country. If the Indians can keep their own house in order, only
those who are fit to live in it would remain. Others would leave of their own
accord. Mr. X is unable to accept this proposition and asserts: 'There
seems little doubt that we shall have to expel the English by force of
arms. So long as they are in the country we cannot rest... The English
are ... like a blight which we must remove by every means.' Mr. X is
thinking of what had happened in Italy when it was rid of Austrian rule
under the leadership of Mazzini and Garibaldi. Gandhi's strong objection
to following the example of Italy is that the way that country was liberated
and the subsequent course of events had not brought happiness to the
peasants and workers there. Coming to the case of India, he argues: 'You
will admit that people under several Indian princes are being ground down.
The latter mercilessly crush them. Their tyranny is greater than that of
the English, and if you want such tyranny in India, then we shall never
agree. My patriotism does not teach me that I am to allow people to be
crushed under the heel of Indian princes if only the English retire. If I have
the power, I should resist the tyranny of Indian princes just as much as
that of the English ... If any Englishman dedicated his life to securing the
freedom of India, resisting tyranny and serving the land, I should welcome
that Englishman as an Indian.'

At this stage, Gandhi looks at the whole thing from another standpoint: If
India has to take the path followed by Italy, she has to arm herself on a large scale.
In doing so the country has to more or less Europeanize herself which again would
be her undoing. In reply, Mr. X unfolds his own thinking: 'Atfirst, we shall assassinate
a few Englishmen and strike terror; then, a large mass of people who have been
armed will fight openly. We may have to lose a quarter of a million men, more or
less, but we shall regain our land. We shall undertake guerilla warfare, and defeat
the English.' Gandhi is now in his element: 'That is to say, you want to make the
holy land of India unholy. Do you not tremble to think of freeing India by

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assassination? ... Whom do you suppose to free by assassination? The
millions of India do not desire it. Those who are intoxicated by the wretched
modern civilization think [of] these things. Those who will rise to power by
murder will certainly not make the nation happy.' He marshals all his arguments
against a righteous end justifying questionable means adopted for attaining
it. It is not, however, easy to convince Mr. X. The position he has taken is
simple: 'Shall I think of the means when I have to deal with a thief in the
house? My duty is to drive him out anyhow.' He is very clear in his mind that
India cannot win her freedom by making petitions. On this last point, Gandhi
agrees that petitions, without the backing of strength, are useless. But the
exercise of brute force for this purpose would only lead to disaster. The other
alternative is the use of soul-force, viz., satyagraha, also called passive
resistance. This force is indestructible, irresistible. It is the most effective
method of securing rights. Gandhi explains it in greater detail: 'When I refuse
to do a thing that is repugnant to my conscience, I use soul-force ... No man
can claim that he is absolutely in the right or that a particular thing is wrong
because he thinks so, but it is wrong for him so long as that is his deliberate
judgment. It is therefore meet that he should not do that which he knows to
be wrong, and suffer the consequence whatever it may be. This is the key to
the use of soul-force ... To use brute force, to use gunpowder, is contrary to
passive resistance, for it means that we want our opponent to do by force
that which we desire but he does not. And if such a use of force is justifiable,
surely he is entitled to do likewise by us.' Then where is the scope left for
coming to an agreement? In that sense satyagraha is the key to removing
causes of conflict in any sphere of life.

Mr. X still looks at passive resistance as a 'weapon of the weak.'
This impression, Gandhi asserts, is based on 'gross ignorance.’ He asks
Mr. X: 'Do you believe that a coward can ever disobey a law that he dislikes?'
A man devoid of courage can never be a passive resister, according to
him. Of course even a man with ordinary physical strength is capable of
offering such resistance, provided his body has been trained or he has an
inherent strength to withstand any consequent hardship. In any case he
must be bold and have control over his mind. From the experience that
Gandhi had, he has learnt that the persons 'who want to become passive
resisters for the service of the country have to observe perfect chastity,
adopt poverty, follow truth, and cultivate fearlessness.' Only then can they
wield this 'all-sided sword' which 'biesses him who uses it and him against
whom it is used. Without drawing a drop of blood it produces far-reaching
results.'

One of the dialogues is devoted to the question of education. Talking
about it, Gandhi stresses the point that education should not be looked at
only in terms of literacy. He deprecates the tendency towards making a
fetish of the ability to read and write, etc. He looks back at India's ancient
school system with great respect, particularly the importance it attached to
character-building. He has serious reservations about English education in

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301

India: To give millions a knowledge of English is to enslave them. The foundation
that Macaulay laid of education has enslaved us. I do not suggest that he had
any such intention, but that has been the result. Is it not a sad commentary
that we should have to speak of Home rule in a foreign tongue? ... It is we, the
English-knowing Indians, that have enslaved India. The curse of the nation will
rest not upon the English but upon us.'

The all-important subject of 'machinery' was still to be discussed.
The moment Mr. X makes mention of it, Gandhi immediately lifts his
eyebrows: 'By raising this question, you have re-opened my wound. When
i read Mr. Dutt's Economic History of India, I wept; and as I think of it again
my heart sickens. It is machinery that has impoverished India. It is difficult
to measure the harm that Manchester has done to us ... But I make, a
mistake. How can Manchester be blamed? We wore Manchester cloth and
this is why Manchester wove it.'

Gandhi's anger against Manchester cloth coming to India is nothing
as compared to production of mill-made cloth in the country itself. This, in
his opinion, is the worst onslaught of modern civilization: 'By using
Manchester cloth we only waste our money but by reproducing Manchester
in India, we shall keep our money at the price of our blood ... And those
who have amassed wealth out of factories are not likely to be better than
other rich men.... Impoverished India can become free, but it will be hard
for an India made rich through immorality to regain its freedom. I fear we
shall have to admit that moneyed men support British rule; their interest
is bound up with its stability.'

What Gandhi has said in the context of mill-made cloth applies to all
other goods produced with the help of machines. 'Machinery is like a snake-
hole which may contain from one to a hundred snakes.' Mr. X cleverly asks:
'Is it a good point or a bad one that all you are saying will be printed through
machinery?' Gandhi's reply: 'This is one of those instances which
demonstrate that sometimes poison is used to kill poison.'

The discussion has reached a stage at which Mr. X cannot but
draw Gandhi to the real-life situation in India: 'From your views I gather
that you would form a third party. You are neither an extremist nor a
moderate.' Gandhi's reply: 'That is a mistake. I do not think of a third
party at all ... I would serve both the moderates and the extremists.
Where I differ from them, i would respectfully place my position before
them and continue my service.' He means to bring home to the extremists
that merely expelling the English will not amount to obtaining Home
Rule. It cannot be obtained by force of arms. Brute force is not natural to
Indian soil. The country has, therefore, to rely wholly on sou! force. He
would impress upon the moderates that mere petitioning would not do.
They have to forget that British rule is doing any good to India. Anarchy
under Home Rule is any time better than orderly foreign rule. Everyone
has to understand that the country does not want 'the tyranny of either
English rule or Indian rule.'

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Gandhi is now in an inspired mood. Mr. X asks him: 'What, then, would
you say to the English?' The most important part of what he proposes to tell
the British is:

I have no objection to your remaining in my country, but although
you are the rulers, you will have to remain as servants of the people.

It is not we who have to do as you wish, but it is you who (lave to do
as we wish. You may keep the riches that you have drained away
from this land, but you may not drain riches henceforth ... We cannot
tolerate the idea of your spending money on railways and the military
... You may fear Russia; we do not ... We do not need any European
cloth. We shall manage with articles produced and manufactured at
home. You may not keep one eye on Manchester and the other on
India. We can work together only if our interests are identical ...

Only on condition of our demands being fully satisfied may you
remain in India; and if you remain under these conditions, we shall
learn several things from you and you will learn many from us. So
doing we shall benefit each other and the world.

The British are not going to accept any such solicitation. In that case Gandhi's
answer is:'... we cease to play the part of the ruled. You may, if you like, cut
us to pieces. You may shatter us at the cannon's mouth. If you act contrary
to our will, we shall not help you; and without our help, we know that you
cannot move one step forward.'

In conclusion Gandhi makes it clear that the people of India will not
get anything for the asking. Their salvation lies in swaraj which can be
attained through passive resistance alone. Swadeshi in every sense is
one of the primary requisites. Everyone has to know his duty at this juncture
and be prepared to face all kinds of suffering in its performance. Regarding
his own role he declares: '... my conscience testifies that my life henceforth
is dedicated to its attainment.'

* * *

This thin-bodied but exceedingly provocative book, in which Gandhi
had laid bare firm beliefs developed by him in the light of experience gained in
South Africa and from his perception of the Indian political scene, did not
straightaway receive much notice except by dint of its proscription by the
over-cautious Bombay Government within weeks of its appearance. When
this news reached Gandhi and his fellow-workers, they hurriedly published
its English rendering, Indian Home Rule. The Government of India took a little
more time to smell what, according to it, was injurious in this publication and
ban its entry into the country.

Conceived primarily in the context of contemporary happenings in India,
the Hind Swaraj was Gandhi's prescription regarding the course that the

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303

country's incipient struggle for liberation from British rule should take.
Broadly speaking, he had already given a conceptual shape to the satyagraha
creed along with its twin co-ordinates of truth and non-violence. While he was
practising this discipline for dealing with a limited task in the Transvaal, he
was also reflecting on the scope for its application on a larger scale in India.
Even though the passive resistance campaigns in South Africa had not brought
any concrete success, Gandhi was fully convinced that satyagraha was the
best answer to the challenge before India in relation to its growing urge to be
a free country. And that conviction was the impelling force behind his anxiety
to deflect the patriotic ones amongst the Indian youth from the contemplated
path of violence to carry forward the struggle for independence. The case
built up by Gandhi in the Hind Swaraj, so far as repudiation of terrorist activity
and adoption of non-violent resistance were concerned, was unexceptionable.
It had also opened up to mankind space for exciting new possibilities of a
more humane approach towards political and social change. Particularly what
he had said about terrorism was the first articulate discourse against this
evil, a micro-scopic pathogen at that time, but now grown into a fearsome
monster.

An important change that had come about in Gandhi's thinking around
the time he wrote Hind Swaraj was the special meaning he had come to
attach to the ills of modern civilization. It is not that this question was
completely new to him. A decade and a half earlier, when he was only twenty-
five, his association with the Esoteric Christian Union had left him acutely
conscious of the modern civilization's inability to meet the needs of the human
soul because of its fixation on materialistic concerns.* With the passage of
time and as a consequence of the inspiration he had drawn from the writings
of Tolstoy and Ruskin, this line of thought had slowly grown into an article of
faith. In fact, his dissatisfaction with the kind of life that had evolved in the
wake of the Industrial Revolution in England and other countries which had
come within its sweep and his own commitment to satyagraha were from the
very beginning intimately inter-connected with each other. Shortly before he
left London and undertook his return voyage to South Africa during which he
was to write Hind Swaraj, he had made it known to H.S.L. Polak that what he
thought of modern civilization had taken 'violent possession' of him. It is not.
therefore, surprising that the question should have figured as the central theme
of this manifesto. So deep was his disgust with modern civilization that in
exposing its ugly side, he went overboard and put forward some arguments
which verged on the polemical.

Even after Gandhi had had his say in Hind Swaraj about modem civilization,
he would not give up lambasting anything that smacked of modernity.** On hearing

* See Gandhi's letter dated 26 November, 1894 to the Editor, The Natal Mercury, CWMG
Vol. I, pp 139-40.

** This is despite the fact that the core of Gandhian thought itself had some unmistakable
elements of modernity. For example, in his radical approach to the problem of untouchability
in India, he was more modern than most of his contemporaries.

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from Chhaganlal (in India at this time) about the Servants of India Society,
established by Gokhale, he immediately called it to account with undue
harshness. He wrote to Maganial: 'It is a matter for regret that a great
man like Prof. Gokhale is engrossed in it ... It is simply an indifferent
imitation of the West. Is it proper for the servants to have servants? ...
Why should there be large buildings in India? Why should not huts be
enough? ... According to the standard indicated by me in Hind Swaraj, the
work of Mr. Gokhale's "servants" cannot be regarded as proper. It is likely
to add to our slavery...'

Gandhi had sent copies of the booklet to a number of friends in South
Africa and elsewhere and had invited their comments. One of them Mr. W.J.
Wybergh, a theosophist who took active part in the T ransvaal politics, sent him
an elaborate reply. One point he had made was: 'It is a fatal confusion to suppose
that what is right for the saint is right for everyone else ...' What he had suggested
was that 'civilization must be mended, not ended.' Gandhi's answer to Wybergh
was: 'I have ventured utterly to condemn modern civilization because I hold that
the spirit of it is evil ... Its activity is by no means confined to Europe. Its blasting
influence is now being exhibited in full force in Japan. And it now threatens to
overwhelm India. History teaches us that men who are in the whirlpool. ..will have
to work out their destiny in it; but... those who are still outside its influence, and
those who have a well-tried civilization to guide them, should be helped to remain
where they are, if only as a measure of prudence.'

A few weeks later Gandhi delivered a talk on this subject at
Johannesburg. Modern civilization, he said had two important characteristics:
ceaseless activity and the anxiety to annihilate time and space. The life of
the so-called civilized beings had become so complex that they could just
not find time to devote attention to higher pursuits. 'In ancient civilization,
there had been no rush whatsoever. They now-a-days look downwards to the
earth; in those days they looked upwards to Heaven ... The flesh is not the
be-all and end-all of life. Now is the service of Mammon, then was the service
of God.' Gandhi's diatribe against modern civilization had a lot to do with his
over-romanticized view of India's past. He had overlooked that evils like slavery,
feudal exploitation, blind superstition, intolerant religiosity, unbridled despotism
and caste-based taboos were important features of ancient and tradition-
bound societies. He had also ignored the fact that despite many of its
shortcomings, modern civilization had brought into prominence new values
like liberty, equality and social justice and had given birth to a host of liberal
political institutions.

In his preface to the second Gujarati edition of Hind Swaraj published
in May 1 91 4, Gandhi again unequivocally proclaimed that he still stood firmly
by the ideas he had expressed in 1909-10: 'And during this period, many
persons have had discussions with me on those ideas. Englishmen and
Indians, both have written to me about them, several expressing dissent. At
the end of it all, however, I find that the convictions I stated in the book have
grown stronger.' Three months later when he left South Africa, he

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305

was confessedly 'an uncompromising enemy of the present-day civilization
of Europe.'

Within a few years after his return to India, Gandhi emerged as
the unquestioned leader of the Indian National Congress. As soon as
the non-co-operation movement got going, he affirmed that it was 'a
struggle between religion and irreligion, powers of light and powers of
darkness', thus bringing the civilizational aspect again to the forefront.
The West, as he could see it, was the fountain-head of all evil: 'It is my
firm opinion that Europe today represents not the spirit of God or
Christianity but the spirit of Satan .... The last War... has shown, as
nothing else has, the Satanic nature of the civilization that dominates
Europe today.' Gandhi's position regarding modernity vis-a-vis tradition
resulted in some mystification even in his thinking on satyagraha. Instead
of presenting it straight as a more civilized form of fight against injustice,
he chose to infuse into it an old-world self-denying asceticism. To an
equal extent it had contorted his views on technological advancement
and use of machinery for industrial progress. Inevitably he got pushed
towards an economic philosophy that could not have transcended the
demands of sheer survival. In the long run it could not have done much
good to a country like India overwhelmed by widespread poverty and
squalor. This was probably the reason why Gokhale, his greatest admirer
in India had felt thoroughly dissatisfied when he went through the English
translation of Hind Swaraj. He considered it 'crude and hastily conceived'.
He strongly felt that Gandhi had not yet understood India's socio¬
economic problem. His only hope was that he would change in the right
direction after he had known his country more intimately.

Later when it actually came to practical application of his thinking to
the Indian situation, Gandhi found that there were many among the political
elite who had serious doubts regarding the soundness of his prescriptions.
What confounded them more than anything else was the vehemence with
which he often railed at things which in their own wisdom they had identified
with progress. Some of them, who strongly felt that Gandhi's fads could
prove harmful to the country, tried to scare away people by placing before
them certain passages from Hind Swaraj. Gandhi felt obliged at this point of
time to clarify that he was not aiming 'at the swaraj described therein.' The
reason he gave was: 'I know that India is not ripe for it. It may seem an
impertinence to say so. But such is my conviction.’ At the same time he
acknowledged that individually he was working for the self-rule pictured in
Hind Swaraj. The way Gandhi drew a distinct line betweer>the path he was to
pursue as an individual and the course that ought to be followed by India as
a social entity was a big compromise he was compelled to make between
the ideal (as envisaged by him) and the actual reality.

The above compromise notwithstanding, in the wider historical
perspective, because of the pre-eminent position Gandhi came to hold in the
country's national life from the early twenties onward, his world view as

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presented in Hind Swaraj did have the potential to inhibit the upsurge of
modernity that had begun in 1 9th-century India. Any influence that the book
might have had in retarding the modernization processes set in motion by
the pioneers of Indian Renaissance, was more than offset by the powerful
presence on the scene of individuals like Rabindranath Tagore* and Jawaharlal
Nehru. To an extent, Gandhi himself had in later years to modify his thinking
about the use of machinery and the overall question of industrialisation. In
any case, no one can say that whatever has ultimately come about by way of
modernisation has all been a change for the better. Present-day India, and for
that matter the entire world, while deriving numerous benefits from modern
civilization, does suffer from many of its ills. Gandhi probably would have
contributed a great deal more to the well-being of mankind if, instead of
rejecting this civilization as an unmitigated evil, he had focused on how to
steer clear of the pitfalls germane to it and blend modernity with the wisdom
of the past to upgrade the quality of life for all.

* It is significant that Tagore's play Prayaschitta (1909), written around the same time as
Hind Swaraj, has a Gandhi-like character who in a way anticipates non-violent civil
resistance as the people's answer to the tyranny of an unjust ruler. See Krishna Kripalani,
Rabindranath Tagore — A Biography (London, 1962), p. 205. Tagore himself was alive to
certain unhealthy aspects of modern civilization. What really drew him towards Gandhi
was the latter's living faith in truth and non-violence.

SUPPORT FROM INDIA

About the time a deputation led by Gandhi went to London, his close
confidant H.S.L. Polak had left for India. He was required to acquaint the
people there with the problem of Indians in South Africa and the satyagraha
struggle being waged by them in the T ransvaal. The Indian National Congress
had been passing resolutions expressing its anxiety about the difficulties
confronting the Indian community in the South African subcontinent. What it
now needed was concrete help. The Indian Congress was also in better health:
hence this initiative.

In his briefing to Henry Polak, Gandhi had asked him to let his country¬
men understand that the passive resisters in the Transvaal had not
demanded anything extraordinary. What they were seeking was only legal
equality with the European settlers, as regards residence and immigration.
They knew that in actual administration and everyday life some degree of
racial prejudice was inevitable. They wanted that at least whatever was on
the Statute-book should net discriminate against them, hoping that in
course of time inequitable treatment would automatically become a thing
of the past. Gandhi had also desired Polak to clearly expose the evil
nature of the indenture system under which Natal was continuing to draw
iabour from India. He was to see what could be done to work up pressure
for its discontinuance. In the performance of these tasks, Polak was to
take whatever support he needed from Gopal Krishna Gokhale, but keep
clear of the extremists.

On reaching India, Polak established contact with Gokhale and
discussed the South African situation with him. The latter arranged for all
possible assistance to him from the Servants of India Society. Initially,
Polak had found in Sir Pherozeshah Mehta a stumbling-block, but before
long he also came round and adopted a helpful attitude. Whatever Polak
would say In his speeches or write in his articles was given wide publicity
by the Indian Press. Thus the people of India learnt what agony their
brethren in South Africa were going through and how painful the ongoing
campaign in the Transvaal was.

A public meeting convened by the prominent citizens of Bombay
was held on September 9, 1909. More important than the resolution
passed was the forceful speech delivered by Gokhale. The clarity with
which he spelt out the subject in his address was a measure of his deep
involvement with the problem. Talking of the trials and tribulations of the

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Transvaal Indians, he referred to a drastic reduction in their population
and the brunt of the persecution being borne by a band of dedicated
persons, 'led by the indomitable Gandhi, a man of tremendous spiritual
power, one who is made of the stuff of which great heroes and martyrs are
made.' For the benefit of those few who had looked at the struggle led by
Gandhi with disfavour, Gokhale explained the functional logic of passive
resistance: when those who placed conscience and self-respect above
their material interests, intensely felt the injustice of a law and there was
no other way to obtain redress, refusal to acquiesce in it and taking the
consequences of such refusal, was the only course left to them. Affirming
the great moral force Gandhi embodied in himself, Gokhale went on to
add: 'I am sure, if any of us had been in the Transvaal during these days
we should have been proud to range ourselves under Mr. Gandhi's banner,
and work with him and suffer with him in the cause.'

One could see that Polak's labours would not remain fruitless. As far
as Gandhi was concerned, when s.s. Kildonan Castle was approaching the
Cape of Good Hope, he was conscious of the dismal situation he was going
to face on his return to the Transvaal. Although a good number of Indians had
held out valiantly, there were many who had grown weary and were ready to
drop out. To sustain a prolonged struggle, it was not only necessary to have
more men, possessing courage and the spirit of sacrifice, there was also the
need of financial wherewithal. His weekly, Indian Opinion, could not be kept
alive without a subsidy. The day-to-day political work at the local level and in
London also involved considerable expenditure. The problem that troubled
him most was how to keep the families of the poorest among satyagrahis
going when their bread-winners had courted imprisonment.

Having disembarked at Cape Town on November 30, 1909 with all
these worries on his mind, Gandhi was beside himself with joy when someone
delivered to him a cable received from Gokhale stating that Ratanji Jamshedji
Tata had given Rs. 25,000 in aid of the Transvaal struggle. This was God's
own help received at the moment it was desperately needed.

The delegation left for the Transvaal hurriedly. Thanks to the Government's
courtesy in allowing them to cross the border unchallenged, they were
not delayed en route . This bit of grace, it appears, was shown by the
authorities to avoid ill-will on the eve of the forthcoming annual session of
the Indian National Congress. On arrival at Johannesburg on the evening
of December 2,1909, Gandhi made a quick review of the situation. There
were about 30 satyagrahis in jail, though many more would have liked to
court imprisonment if the Government cared to give them an opportunity.
According to his assessment, the keen passive resisters who were likely
to remain staunch to the last would be about one hundred. More important
than their number was the remarkable strength of will shown by certain

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309

individuals. The bravest among them was Thambi Naidoo, who because of
his active role in the passive resistance movement from the very beginning
was counted among the leaders. Gandhi had received a message from him
saying that if he chose to accept anything less than the terms already offered
he alone would offer resistance and die in the Transvaal jails. Gandhi attached
equally great importance to the example set by Parsee Rustomjee for the well-
to-do Indian traders. He had finished over nine months behind prison walls.
When Gandhi called on him, he found him shattered in health and yet 'resolved
upon dying in gaol if need be.' The British Indian Association undauntedly
decided at a mass meeting held at Johannesburg on December 5 not to water
down its demand for the legal and theoretical equality of the highly educated
Indians with other immigrants for coming into the Colony. The stand taken by
Gandhi in the negotiations at London was thus vindicated.

What distressed Gandhi was that many of the Transvaal Indians who
could afford to provide pecuniary aid for continuing the struggle thought that
they had already given enough. That is why he had to look for help from outside.
Another communication he received from Poona was in the nature of an enquiry
as to his exact requirements. In reply he explained to Gokhale that he was in
need of £1 65 per month - £50 for the local office, £40 for the London office, £50
to subsidize his journal and £25 for the distressed families. He could save
something by closing down the London office, but it would not have been a
good thing to do in the long-term perspective. Similarly he did not like to cut
down the expense on Indian Opinion because it would affect the movement
itself. He had no hesitation in requesting for financial support from India with his
countrymen back home having realised the national importance of the struggle.
He could not help being immoderately frugal: no wonder, therefore, that he kept
his estimate of expenditure on the low side.

***

At the twenty-fourth session of the Indian National Congress at Lahore
towards the close of December 1909 which Polak was invited to address,
Gokhale while moving a resolution in support of Gandhi and his brave and
faithful associates urged the necessity of prohibiting the recruitment of indentured
labour for any part of South Africa and of 'dealing with the authorities there in
the same manner in which the latter deal with Indian interests, so long as they
adhere to the selfish and one-sided policy which they proclaim and practise...'
Referring to Gandhi's part in the struggle, Gokhale said:

Fellow-delegates, after the immortal part which Mr. Gandhi
has played in this affair, I must say it will not be possible
for any Indian, at any time, here or in any other assembly
of Indians, to mention his name without deep emotion and
pride. (Here the huge gathering rose to its feet and
accorded three hearty cheers for Mr. Gandhi) Gentlemen, it

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is one of the privileges of my life that I know Mr. Gandhi intimately,
and I can tell you that a purer, a nobler and a more exalted spirit has
never moved on this earth. Mr. Gandhi is one of those men, who,
living an austerely simple life themselves and devoted to all the highest
principles of love to their fellow-beings and to truth and justice, touch
the eyes of their weaker brethren as with magic and give them a new
vision... and we may say that in him Indian humanity at the present
time has really reached its high-water mark.

Gokhale knew how badly the Transvaal Indians' struggle needed
financial help. He had, therefore, launched a drive for collection of more money.
The audience at Lahore, on hearing the speeches, felt so deeply moved that
they raised an amount of Rs. 1 8,000 on the spot. Many of the women parted
with their rings and bangles as their contribution to the Transvaal Fund. The
Gandhi phenomenon was getting known to the people of India. The Congress
President Madan Mohan Malaviya immediately sent a cable to Gandhi
assuring him of full support and more funds.

At the annual session of the All-India Muslim League also, the Transvaal
problem came up for serious consideration and it led to the collection of Rs.
3,000. The resolution passed by the League too urged the Indian Government
to stop the supply of indentured labourers to South Africa.

On January 10,1910 Ratanji Tata wrote to Gandhi, evincing his deep
interest in the 'noble struggle' his countrymen were waging in the T ransvaal
and expressing his good wishes for these 'brave efforts' to be crowned with
success. Later, he made two more contributions of Rs. 25,000 each. The
Nizam of Hyderabad subscribed Rs. 2,500 to the fund. Even Burma was not
behind; there was a remittance of £750 from Rangoon.

Gandhi was immensely happy over Henry Polak having generated storms
of protest all over India. In this endeavour, the latter had received much help
from Jehangir Petit who, apart from other things, had borne the expense of
printing 20,000 copies of a pamphlet written by Polak. He had found another
powerful supporter in G.A. Natesan, Editor, Indian Review, Madras. He published
at his own cost two small books written by Polak, the first one, The Indians of
South Africa, covering all major aspects of the problem, and the second, M.K.
Gandhi, a short biographical study. These books became important instruments
for disseminating facts about what was happening to the Indian community in
South Africa and the type of leader it had found.

Gandhi was as unremitting as ever about careful handling of public
funds in his charge. He had opened a separate account - Passive Resistance
Fund. The expenditure was planned in consultation with Cachalia,
President of the British Indian Association, and other leading satyagrahis.
Initially he rendered the accounts to Gokhale and Jehangir Petit, the latter
having been nominated as Secretary of the Fund. Both of them had written
to Gandhi, leaving disbursement of the Fund to his discretion. He particularly
took care to inform Gokhale that he had paid £1,200 out of this
Fund towards clearance of the Phoenix debt, representing the amount he

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311

had taken on loan from some of his European friends and clients to keep
Indian Opinion afloat even at a loss in the interest of the passive resistance
movement. By way of clarification he added that he had derived no financial
benefit from Phoenix and that he had put in nearly £5,000 out of his earnings
into this establishment including the publication of Indian Opinion, looked
after by his co-workers who were under a vow of poverty.

The Government of India had responded sympathetically to the
pressure brought on it by various bodies. On February 25,1910, Gokhale
moved a resolution in the Legislative Council, recommending that the
Government should prohibit the recruitment of indentured labour for Natal.
The resolution was unanimously carried and accepted by the Government.
In the first instance this was to be used as a counterweight in the
negotiations with General Botha's Government after formation of the Union
of South African colonies. Gandhi was not quite happy about this move
regarding stoppage of indentured emigration by way of reprisal for non-
redressal of grievances of Indian settlers in South Africa. He thought
that this system was so immorai and hurtful that it should not be allowed
to continue even as a quid pro quo for a better deal to the free Indian
population of Natal and its sister-colonies.

The monetary help that had poured in acted as a great morale-
booster. The funds for financing the satyagraha campaign having become
available, Gandhi was now in a stronger position to carry it on. The Tamil
speaking settlers were still the most ardent satyagrahis. A number of
white-collar young Indians, i.e., schoolmasters and clerks, etc., turned
into unlicensed hawkers, going from house to house and selling fruit or
vegetables at a small profit, a part of which they contributed to the Passive
Resistance Fund. By doing so they set a good example for the professional
hawkers who were getting tired of the unending struggle. The person who
attracted the maximum attention was Joseph Royeppen, Bar-at-law, a
graduate of Cambridge University, He had just then returned from England.
Instead of establishing himself as a lawyer, he picked up a basket of
vegetables and courted arrest as an unauthorized hawker. Those who
suffered imprisonment during this phase included Manila!, Gandhi's second
son, who was only 1 7 at this time. The number of persons who had been
to jail since the inception of the movement had crossed 2,500.

General Smuts would still not change his Asiatic policy a whit. But he
was shrewd enough to avoid filling up the jails again, though whatever prisoners
were on hand were put to greater hardship. He took particular care not to be
hustled into committing Gandhi to another term of imprisonment. The Transvaal
Government believed in hitting where it hurt most. Now it resorted to ordering
deportation on flimsy grounds. On April 14, 1910 s.s. Umhloti set sail for
India with 59 passive resisters unlawfully deported from the Colony under an
administrative order against which there was no appeal to any court of law.
Many of them had left their families behind who would have starved but for the
timely help received from India,

TOLSTOY FARM

The passive resistance movement in the Transvaal had grown into a
war of attrition. The all-powerful state was arrayed against a dedicated team
of satyagrahis energised by a conviction that truth and justice were on their
side. Gandhi had no idea how long the struggle would last. If the Boer
Generals were 'determined not to yield even an inch of ground,' his own
volunteers were 'pledged to fight unto death or victory.' They were ready for
imprisonment or deportation for themselves. The real difficulty was about
their families. The arrangement of monthly allowances payable to them
according to their needs was not working too well. While some of them
were taking good advantage of this flexible system, many others were left
in great hardship. Gandhi could see that the right thing to do would be to
have all the families live at one place like a 'co-operative commonwealth.'
The Phoenix settlement was too far away to serve this need. What he
required was a similar facility near Johannesburg without which, Gandhi
thought, it would be difficult to bear up the movement.

At this critical hour, his friend Hermann Kallenbach came to his
rescue. He already had played an important role in the development of
the Phoenix settlement into a model rural abode. Gandhi had lived with
him under the same roof at Johannesburg when the satyagraha campaign
was at its peak. Kallenbach looked after the affairs along with Rev. Doke
when Gandhi had gone on deputation to England. Now that the resistance
movement was faced with a problem, he thought it was his duty to solve
it somehow or other.

Kallenbach hurriedly bought an eleven-hundred-acre farm about
twenty miles outside Johannesburg and placed it at Gandhi's disposal for
the use of satyagrahis and their families. The estate was served by a
railway station at Lawley, hardly one mile away. It was a good piece of
land spread out in a valley flanked by low undulating hills. It had about a
thousand fruit-bearing trees. So, during the season there would be plenty
of oranges, apricots, plums and figs. The small house at the foot of one
hillock could accommodate half-a-dozen persons. For water there were
two wells and a spring. On June 4, 1 91 0, Kallenbach and Gandhi with his
two sons, moved out to this place already christened Tolstoy Farm. Before
long Kasturba also was to come over there.

The immediate task was to rig up accommodation for about six dozen
persons who were to take refuge at this place. The intention was to provide

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313

separate quarters for men and women. The houses were, therefore, to be
built in two pockets at some distance from each other. Kallenbach, himself
an architect, planned for the building work. He arranged for a European
mason who trained some of the inmates in stonework. An Indian carpenter
offered to work free of charge. He managed to get additional hands who
were ready to work at reduced rates. Sufficient unskilled labour was available
from amongst the beneficiaries themselves. With limited timber work and
use of corrugated iron sheets even for erecting walls, it did not take more
than two months to raise the structures. Gandhi had kept in view what would
happen when the farm was ultimately vacated by the satyagrahis. Kallenbach
had undertaken to reimburse the capital cost of the structures initially met
by drawing upon the Passive Resistance Fund.

It was natural that Gandhi should have been anxious to exclude meat-
eating from the community life he had in view. Among those who came in
there were some Muslims and Christians who nad lived on meat since their
childhood. It was difficult to expect of them that they should give up meat
even temporarily. Gandhi thought over the matter with great care and came to
the conclusion that if Mohammedans and Christians asked even for beef,
they must get it. Having searched his heart, he put his own thinking across
to the persons concerned, also dwelling on the considerations of finance and
his own as well as others' sentiment. To his great delight, all the dwellers
agreed to set up a purely vegetarian kitchen.

One aspect on which Gandhi had to focus his attention was the
necessity of making the group of people in his charge self-supporting. If this
was done it would be possible to give a fight to the T ransvaal Government for
any length of time. With this aim in view the community life was so organized
that most of its needs could be met locally. No doubt, the work that every
settler was required to do was harder than in the prison. Some of the supplies
had inevitably to be obtained from the town. Expenditure thereon to a limited
extent was manageable.

After some time, the farm was like a beehive buzzing with life. A small
handmill had been put to intensive use for grinding wheat. Baking of bread
from coarse wheat flour inclusive of bran was an important piece of work.
Groundnut butter was made by roasting and then grinding peanuts. The
marmalade to be produced depended upon the variety of fruit available from
time to time. There were no paid servants on the farm. Mrs. Gandhi had an
active role in the running of the community kitchen.

Gandhi did not like anything to be spent on footwear. Expenditure on
this item could be eliminated if sandals were to be manufactured locally.
Kallenbach went to the monastery of the German Catholic monks (T rappists)
at Mariannhill and learnt this craft. On return he imparted it to Gandhi who in
turn trained a few other persons. So they were able to produce sandals not
only to meet their own requirement but also some surplus which they sold off.
Another craft introduced by Kallenbach was carpentry covering various articles
of common use ranging from wooden spoons to benches.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Those who conceived the Tolstoy Farm had no respect for modern
medicai science. It was not considered necessary to keep handy even the
commonest of medicines. The emphasis was on preventive health care so
that there should be minimum sickness. True enough, the farm had no case
of illness which should have made it necessary to call in a doctor. If a person
did have some problem, Gandhi's well-tried system of nature-cure was always
there. His innate aptitude for nature-therapy had become so widely known
that now and then some patients came to the Tolstoy Farm from outside for
treatment under his care. One such case was that of Lutavan, one of Gandhi's
old clients. He was over seventy and suffered from chronic asthma which had
not responded to any treatment. Gandhi cured him with the help of Louis
Kuhne baths and regulated diet. These measures had their full effect when
Lutavan completely gave up smoking.

Gandhi was very particular about maintaining a high standard of
cleanliness and good sanitation. All garbage was buried in the trenches
dug up for the purpose. All waste water was collected and used for watering
trees. Leavings of food and vegetable refuse were converted into manure. A
deep pit was sunk at some distance from the quarters to receive the night-
soil which was regularly covered with earth to guard against foul smell and
flies and ultimately it was also converted into valuable manure.

The most noteworthy feature of this tiny settlement was its Arcadian
simplicity. Although the place was not too far away from Johannesburg, it
kept itself free from all artificialities of urban life. Journeying to and from
the city by rail, and that too third class, was allowed only when someone
had to go there for public work. Anyone, young or old, wanting to go for a
pleasure trip or on some private errand, was required to make it on foot.
Instead of spending anything on his meals in the city, he was expected to
carry with him the food he would have normally consumed at the farm.

The inmates were provided three meals a day. They would take bread
and home-made wheat-flour coffee at six in the morning. This beverage was
prepared by using parched wheat ground into fine powder. The mid-day meal
taken at eleven comprised rice, dal and vegetables. The so-called coffee was
again served at half past five. The evening meal consisted of wheat pap or
bread and milk. The day ended with prayers which included recitation of hymns
in English, Hindi or Gujarati and readings from the scriptures. They all retired at
9 o’clock. There were no cots; all slept on the floor. For bed everyone got two
blankets, one for spreading and the other for covering oneself.

Austerity was the keynote of community life at the farm. Drinking and
smoking were, no doubt, prohibited. The keenness with which religious fasts
were observed by the settlers harmonized with their austere living. When the
month of ramzan came, the Mohammedan youngsters among them were
encouraged to observe the prescribed fasts. Apart from special arrangements
made for their early morning and evening meals, the others kept company
with them by missing their midday meal.

The settlers having adopted the life of manual workers, they put on the

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315

labourers' dress. This inexpensive clothing could be procured ready-made.
Later, the stitching work was done at the farm itself by women folk. So
self-reliant was the farm community that even for haircut the inmates did
not have to take the help of an outsider.

No time was lost in setting up a school for young boys and girls.
Ultimately their number was more than twenty-five. The settlers including
the students were busy with all kinds of manual and other work in the
morning. The classes were, therefore, held in the afternoon, with Gandhi
and some of the educated youth working as teachers. They used Gujarati,
Hindi and Tamil as the medium of instruction, though lessons were also
given in Urdu, English and Sanskrit. There were no text-books. Narration or
reading of interesting stories was an important part of teaching. The physical
labour and training for vocational work were as important as reading, writing
and other studies. The primary aim was building up of character. Gandhi
had taken religious instruction in his own hand. He was anxious that his
pupils should get into the habit of respecting all religions. He was of the firm
belief that the students' thinking all depended on the life and character of
the teachers. So first they had to purify themselves to an extent that the
pupils should automatically draw inspiration by living with them. Corporal
punishment was, of course, prohibited.

This improvised school was a bold experiment in co-education. The
boys and girls, a number of them adolescents, were allowed to mix freely.
Among the boys there were some known for their strong inclination towards
mischief. Relying on the healthy effect produced by his lectures on self-
restraint, Gandhi was bold enough to allow the boys to go for bathing in the
company of innocent young girls. It might be helpful to quote Gandhi himself
on this issue: 'I knew, and so did the children, that I loved them with a mother's
love. The reader will remember the spring at some distance from the kitchen.
Was it a folly to let the children meet there for bath and yet to expect them to
be innocent? My eyes always followed the girls as a mother's eye would
follow a daughter. The time was fixed when all the boys and all the girls went
together for a bath. There was an element of safety in the fact that they went
in a body. Solitude was always avoided. Generally, I also would be at the
spring at the same time.' True to his profession Erik H. Erikson has read into
Gandhi's emphasis on the motherly care that he was taking something in the
nature of a pretension, though it could very well bean innocent verbal device
to forcefully convey the extremely good care with which he was conducting
the experiment. Erikson is more abrasive in his further observation: 'The
whole. ..story can only impress the modem reader with the probability that
here a guardian was following the "mischievous" boys and the "innocent
young girls" to the spring with the moralist's secret hope that they would
show some of the interest which had aroused the guardian's all-too-hungry
curiosity.' Who would not like to dismiss what Erikson has suggested as
sheer blasphemy? But one has also to keep in view the kind of tricks the
sub-conscious is able to play, howsoever high-minded a person might be.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Anyhow, everything was going on smoothly until one day Gandhi
learnt that a boy had been teasing two girls. The news upset him badly.
After satisfying himself that the report was factually true, he took the
youngsters to task. He admonished the girls too but did not feel satisfied
with it. He wanted the two girls somehow to be fortified against any
attempt at violation of their modesty. He spent a sleepless night thinking
over the question. Next morning he again summoned the girls and told
them gently that he would like to cut off their fine long hair. The idea met
with objection from the elderly women at the farm. And only after Gandhi
explained the motive behind his proposal did they give their approval.
Finally the girls, hardly ready for the tonsure, also came round, and Gandhi
removed their hair with his own hand. Later he discussed the matter before
his class 'with excellent results', according to him. in this whole episode
one cannot overlook the element of undue harshness with which Gandhi
had dealt with the two innocent girls. He perhaps did not consider the
traumatic effect it would have over them. Even if outwardly they were
reconciled to what they had suffered, they must have been hurt very badly
at the core of their being.

Dietary experiments had been for long an important feature of Gandhi's
life. The Tolstoy Farm was an ideal place for the food faddist in him. It was
here that he gave up the consumption of salt. He held that this change was
beneficial for his health and enabled him to have fuller control over his mind
and keep his passions in check. Once he had reached this conclusion there
was no limit to his enthusiasm for prodding others to practise this discipline.
He did not spare even the school children under his charge from the imposition
of saltless diet. The only concession given to them was a meal of rice and
salted dal once a week. There was a peculiar inordinateness about the way
Gandhi translated some of his ideas into practice.

The Tolstoy Farm was not merely a reproduction of Phoenix. It had
come into existence to meet an utterly practical need. It was not only a
place of refuge for the families in distress but also a transit camp for the
satyagrahis who would from time to time come here on completion of their
prison terms and wait for going to jail again. In Gandhi's hands the new
venture assumed the shape of a more advanced experiment in raising a
village republic of his dreams. He used it as a testing ground for the solutions
he had to offer for a number of problems concerned with rural community
life. Although Phoenix had been in existence for over six years, he had lived
there only for short spells, sometimes after long intervals. But at the Tolstoy
Farm he had over a long stretch of time combined his normal political work
with all the activities that formed part of daily life in a small commune. His
passion for manual work was greater than ever before. What he wanted was
to live like a simple farmer. Having given up his lucrative legal practice
altogether, he devoted the major part of his time and energy to looking after
the Tolstoy Farm, where he was like a patriarch totally absorbed in attending
to every small detail about the settlers' well-being.

TOLSTOY FARM

317

The area covered by the Tolstoy Farm, having had no human habitation
before it was acquired by Kallenbach, was badly infested with snakes.
From the very beginning this menace had been a constant threat to the
residents’ sense of security. Kallenbach collected as many books pertaining
to snakes as he could. After making a careful study of the subject he explained
to the settlers the distinction between harmless snakes and others that were
poisonous beyond any doubt. The more perplexing problem was: what should
be the attitude towards the serpents that were positively dangerous. The
matter came up for discussion between Kallenbach and Gandhi a number of
times. Despite the latter's commitment to non-violence, the farm did not have
a total prohibition against the killing of snakes. One day a serpent was
detected in Kallenbach's own room in such a position that it was neither
possible to drive it away nor to catch it. One of the boys went running to
Gandhi and asked him if they could kill it, which he did not hesitate to permit.
Later when he wrote about it, he explained that since he did not have the
courage to seize the serpent himself or otherwise to remove the danger to
the settlers, it was his duty to have it killed. This incident indicates how
practical Gandhi could be when he was faced with a difficult problem. The
principle that he went by was simple and straight: if need be, do not hesitate
to kill a snake.

No matter how much effort on Gandhi's part had gone into making
the Tolstoy Farm what it was, its origin lay in Kallenbach's munificence.
This fact, however, did not alter to the slightest extent the relationship
between the two. On the other hand, their mutual affinity continued to
grow — Kallenbach having for Gandhi the deepest of reverence due to a
spiritual guide, and the latter, apart from sharing his thoughts with the
disciple, meting out to him the loving care of an elder brother as well as a
friend. Unreservedly communicative with each other, they discussed
whatever doubts assailed them on issues close to their hearts. The
unearthly bond connecting them showed up in an interesting form when
Kallenbach planned for a trip to Europe in the latter half of 1 91 1 . A couple
of days before he was scheduled to leave, he gave an undertaking to
Gandhi, in the form of a written agreement drawn on July 29, that during
this 'sacred pilgrimage to the members of his family,' among other things,
he would not contract any marriage, nor lustfully look upon any woman.
He also undertook to travel third class and not to spend anything 'beyond
necessaries befitting ... a simple-living poorfarmer.' The last clause of the
agreement was absolutely ineffable: The consideration for all the above
... imposed by Lower House on himself is more love and yet more love
between the two Houses — such love as, they hope, the world has not
seen.' (p.291 ) If the ties of love uniting the two friends were unique, so
was the abandon with which Kallenbach had surrendered his personal
autonomy. It might surprise many that Gandhi should have allowed his
friend to be completely swayed even by so well-meaning a person as
himself. The fact is that as his own stature grew, the tendency to

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

dominate those very dear to him had become part of his character. He
would always make such dominance palatable by adding the maximum
of love into it and unconsciously justify it to himself on grounds of benefit
to its subject.

Kalienbach remained away from South Africa for about six months.
The letters written to him by Gandhi during this period give a fair idea of
the kind of life he had at the Tolstoy Farm during his friend's absence. The
principal change it had involved in physical terms was his obligation to
look after certain additional items of work which were earlier taken care of
by Kalienbach. From Gandhi's reports to Kalienbach about progress with
regard to the fencing work, sinking of three tube-wells, one after the other,
installation and functioning of the windmill, development of the water supply
system and reflooring, etc., one can see that he was a competent farm
manager even in the sense associated with this term in the work-a-day
world. He had acquired the necessary skills by watching Kalienbach dis¬
charge such responsibilities.

This particular period has special importance in that it gave a direction
to Gandhi's later life. The self-revelatory Hind Swaraj is in every sense a clear
mark of the height he had reached thus far. Before he could further take off
from that point, it was necessary for him to be firm on his spiritual bearings.
This he achieved after he had had a longsome sojourn at the Tolstoy Farm
which went a long way towards hardening the steel in him. The change
manifested itself in his increased fascination for a life of total poverty which
he now believed was the key to self-realisation. He was fiercely earnest when
he expressed in his letter of August 23 to his nephews Chhaganlal and
Maganlal how passionately he would enjoy 'the rare privilege of knowing that
we have not a pie left for the next day and wondering what will happen.' The
explanatory note he had added to it was: 'I consider this privilege a rare one,
for such is the state of the majority in the world, and such was, and will be,
the state of the Buddha and others [like him].' This in fact was an extension
of Gandhi's earlier idea of non-possession, though stretched too far. With the
state of mind that he was in, probably he could not have helped it. He had
been slowly driven to this desperation by his intense fidelity to the highest
ideals of public work. It was now clear in his mind that anyone who was
concerned about his brethren must learn to live adventurously and remain
indifferent to personal security. This realisation should be looked at as a part
of the process by which Gandhi made himself equal to the tasks he had
before him. Even a decade later he felt that his 'faith and courage were at
their highest in Tolstoy Farm.'

THE LEO LIGHT

Leo Tolstoy, famous for his novels, War and Peace and Anna
Karenina, had after his great success with these two masterpieces
somehow lapsed into complete dissatisfaction with himself and everything
around him. His incessant search for the meaning of life which had
troubled him since his youth now drove him to a state of moral and
spiritual crisis that came to a head in 1 879. He turned to the writings of
some eminent thinkers but could not get over his bewilderment. At one
point he even thought of committing suicide. He gave an account of his
inner conflict in A Confession published in 1 882. Ultimately, living among
the common peasants, he could grasp the simple truth that had evaded
him so long: instead of subsisting for oneself, one must serve God and
humanity. Soon enough, he engaged himself in philanthropic work.
Anxious not to live on the labour of others, he would toil in the fields,
personally clean his dwelling and perform other sundry tasks. He dressed
like a peasant and gave up non-vegetarian food. He continued, however,
to devote much of his time to writing on a variety of religious, moral and
social issues. One of the most important books written by him after his
transformation was The Kingdom of God Is Within You which was
completed in April 1 893. Proscribed by the censors, the book immediately
found its way to many countries of Europe in the form of typed copies to
be translated into German, French and English for quick circulation.
Gandhi read it in his first year in South Africa at a time when he himself
was deeply perplexed. It came as a beam of light that removed many of
his doubts. Since then Tolstoy's writings and the mode of life he had
adopted were a constant source of inspiration to him. Tolstoy's emphasis
on the fact that the Christian Church had deformed the simplicity of the
Sermon on the Mount and that as an ally of the State it was a formidable
obstacle to human awakening had nicely fitted into Gandhi's own thinking.
He would not have been surprised when Tolstoy's unorthodox thinking
about Christianity led to his excommunication in 1901 .

It was only in the first week of October 1 909 while Gandhi was in
England that he opened up correspondence with Tolstoy. Having received
through one of his friends a copy of the letter-essay that Tolstoy had
sent to Tarak Nath Das, in reply to his request for guidance as to how
India could liberate itself from the British rule, Gandhi addressed him
giving a brief description of the Indians' passive resistance movement in the

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Transvaal. He had also sent him a copy of the aforesaid letter (popularly
known as Tolstoy's Letter to a Hindoo), requesting him to confirm if it was
authentic and if so allow its publication. The concluding part of Tolstoy's
letter had been worded in a manner that would, among other things,
dissuade the reader from a belief in reincarnation. A firm believer in this
most cherished tenet of Hinduism, Gandhi had asked Tolstoy if he would
agree to remove the word 'reincarnation' from the numerous superstitious
beliefs that the latter had identified as 'ruinous intoxicating ballast', to be
got rid of at any cost.*

In a week's time Gandhi's letter was in Tolstoy's hand and he felt
touched by it. He was past eighty at this time. So eloquent and widespread
had been the message disseminated through his writings of later years that
many people thronged to him with their problems and sought his guidance.
From those who could not reach him he had a continuous flow of letters
which not at all irked him. He looked at this correspondence as a cord
connecting him with the outside world. He would give careful thought to the
questions put to him and answer them with great earnestness. In his reply to
Gandhi’s letter, referring to happenings in the Transvaal, he compared this
'struggle of the tender against the harsh, of meekness and love against pride
and violence' to what was taking place in his own country by way of more and
more frequent refusals on the part of people to undertake military service. He
gladly agreed to Gandhi's proposal about the publication of his letter to Tarak
Nath Das. As to the word 'reincarnation' appearing therein he replied: 'I should
not myself like to omit it, for, in my opinion, belief in reincarnation can never
be as firm as belief in the soul's immortality and in God's justice and love.
You may, however, do as you like about omitting it.' The hair-splitting on this
point, it appears, left on Tolstoy's mind some vague impression of Gandhi's
overgrown 'Hindu patriotism', though otherwise he had very deep admiration
for his new Indian disciple.

Gandhi was still in London when he received Tolstoy's letter. Having
heard about the latter's failing health, he did not like to bother him further.
Later he learnt from a reliable source that Tolstoy was feeling better.
Only then did he write him another letter enclosing with it a copy of his
biography written by Rev. J.J. Doke. The purpose was to acquaint him
more intimately with the passive resistance movement to which he had
dedicated his life. Gandhi had a feeling that he had not succeeded in
publicising this movement adequately. So in writing to Tolstoy he put aside his

* Leo Tolstoy, while enunciating the primacy of the law of love, had affirmed that full
recognition of this great truth by human beings was possible only if they could free
themselves completely from all superstitions, pseudo-religious as well as pseudo¬
scientific. The mass of religious superstitions referred to by him included 'beliefs in all
kinds of Ormuzds, Brahmas, Sabhaoths, their incarnation in Krishnas and Christs' and
also concepts of paradise, hell, angels and demons, etc. The concluding part of Tolstoy's
Letter to a Hindoo was published by Gandhi in the Indian Opinion of January 8,1910
without reference to the law of reincarnation.

THE LEO LIGHT

321

diffidence and opened his heart unreservedly: 'In my opinion, this struggle
of the Indians in the Transvaal is the greatest of modern times, inasmuch
as it has been idealised both as to the goal as also the methods adopted
to reach the goal. I am not aware of a struggle in which the participators
are not to derive any personal advantage at the end of it, and in which 50
percent of the persons affected have undergone great suffering and trial
for the sake of a principle ... You command, possibly, the widest public
today. If you are satisfied as to the facts you will find set forth in Mr.
Doke's book, and if you consider that the conclusions I have arrived at are
justified by the facts, may I ask you to use your influence in any manner
you think fit to popularise the movement?'

Gandhi had written this letter three days before his departure from
England. When he boarded s.s. Kildonan Castle, his imagination was
still fired by what Tolstoy had put into his Letter to a Hindoo. It had enlivened
all that he had earlier imbibed from Tolstoy's works and other sources
which harmonised with his own thinking and experience. The result was
Gandhi's little classic Hind Swaraj. Even while he was engaged on this
work, he snatched some time to write two separate prefaces to Tolstoy's
Letter to a Hindoo, one in Gujarati and the other in English so that it could
be published without any delay. These prefatory notes, apart from reflecting
the essence of Tolstoy's teachings, bear out the reverence with which
Gandhi had accepted him as his teacher. The letter-essay in question
was published in three issues of Indian Opinion, starting with December
25, 1 909. Gandhi did not want to worry the wise old man because of his
delicate health. For a few months, therefore, there was no further
communication between the two until on April 4, 1 91 0, Gandhi sent Tolstoy
a copy of the English version of Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule), requesting
for favour of his own views on the subject.

Tolstoy was not in good health even at this time. All the same, he briefly
wrote to Gandhi that he had read his book Indian Home Rule as well as
his biography written by J.J. Doke with great interest. One observation he made:
passive resistance was 'a question of the greatest importance not only for India
but for the whole humanity.' Apparently he had realised that Gandhi was the
most practical person among his disciples. Helpless on grounds of health, he
had feelingly added: 'I am at present not quite well and therefore abstain from
writing to you all that I have to say about your book and all your work which S
appreciate very much, but I will do it as soon as I will feel better.1

Gandhi again wrote to Tolstoy on August 15,191 0, making particular
mention of his close associate Hermann Kallenbach and the Tolstoy Farm
established for passive resisters in the Transvaal. Kallenbach also had
written directly for having named the farm after him. The Russian sage
was at this time stricken by sorrow to the point of heartbreak. The deadly
venom of jealousy towards Tolstoy's personal secretary and dearest disciple
had preyed on his wife's mind so cruelly that she had lost all capacity for
rational thinking. Estrangement between her and Tolstoy was complete

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

and his agony was worse than hell. Sometimes he doubted if he had been
right to disinherit his family. The preacher of love as the basic law of life had
constant strife in his own home which he was wanting to quit. It could not but
cause further damage to his health. He was fast approaching his end.

Even so, sometime in September 1 91 0 he mustered whatever strength
he was left with and wrote a letter of more than 1200 words to Gandhi.
Tolstoy could clearly make out that the method of resistance Gandhi had
adopted was based on the law of universal love 'undistorted by false
interpretations.' According to him, love as the highest and only law of human
life was understood by every person in the depth of his soul until he was
'ensnared by the false teachings of the world.' He recognized that this law
had been proclaimed by all sages, Indian, Chinese, Jewish, Greek and
Roman. But he thought that it had been expressed most clearly by Christ,
and that people in the Christian world solemnly accepted this law, but at
the same time they allowed themselves to build their lives on violence. The
resultant malady had shown up through symptoms like: crime, large-scale
unemployment, insane luxury of the rich, destitution of the poor, and an
alarming increase in the number of suicides. All these things were signs of
an internal contradiction which, Tolstoy felt, ought to and must be solved by
'recognizingithe law of love and renouncing all violence.' It is in the larger
context of the malaise that had overtaken the Christian civilization, that
Tolstoy viewed Gandhi's concept of satyagraha. It prompted him to add:
'And so your work in the Transvaal, at the other end of the world as it seems
to us, is the most central and most important of all tasks now being done in
the world, and not only Christian peoples, but peoples of the whole world
will inevitably take part in it.'

Within less than three months of addressing Gandhi on these lines,
Tolstoy's earthly life came to an end under circumstances, grievous
beyond comprehension. By writing this letter, Tolstoy had, as it were, handed
over the torch to an apostle who could be relied upon not only to keep it
burning but also transform the light emitted by it into kinetic energy directed
towards persuading mankind to turn away from violence and
finally accept the law of love. For one thing, Gandhi was still young. Besides,
he was so steeped in practical affairs that in his hands the Sermon on the
Mount got the best possible opportunity of becoming an action guide to
men and women concerned with social conflict in any form.

THE UNION

The Union of South Africa came into being on June 1 , 1910. It had
adopted a more centralised form of government than Canada or Australia
— the constituent units, the Cape, Natal, the Transvaal and the Orange
Free State, now designated as provinces, retaining only limited powers.
The Union represented the fusion of Boers and other whites into one
nation. Ironically, it also represented the big divide between whites on
the one hand and all non-whites (including the native population), on the
other. Without even a faint indication that the new Government intended
to give a fair deal to the Asiatic settlers, they were unable to participate
in the rejoicing with which the Union was ushered in. The first working
day of the Union Government, headed by General Botha, was turned
into a day of sorrow for them by Sorbaji Shapurji's incarceration for the
seventh time. Another term of imprisonment for Thambi Naidoo, one of
the most determined satyagrahis , followed close upon that of Sorbaji.
On the morning of June 6, Thambi Naidoo's son was released after three
months in jail. In the afternoon, the same day, the father was rearrested.
Although it happened so by coincidence, it reflects what the struggle
meant to some of the families.

General Smuts, now more powerful as a member of the Union
Cabinet (Minister of the Interior), meant to put up a bold front vis-a-vis
the Indians' passive resistance movement. Insensitivity on the part of
the top leader-ship was bound to percolate to the lower levels. So far,
the minor children of non-resisters in the Transvaal were, on attainment
of majority, eligible for registration whether they had entered the Colony
before or after Act 36 of 1 908 came into force. The Asiatic Department
now found some loophole in this law which it thought was a sufficient
excuse to treat minors who lawfully came to the Colony after passage of
the aforesaid Act as prohibited immigrants on their attaining majority.
The course of discussions that resulted in this legislation clearly implied
that minor children of registered Asiatics were to enjoy the same rights
as their parents. The latest move of the Transvaal Government was again
a flagrant breach of faith. Gandhi's argument was that if there was a flaw
in the Act, it was for the Government to rectify it, and not to make a
morally unjustifiable misapplication of it.

Soon there was a specific case which became the subject of litigation.
The son of Chhotabhai, a prominent Indian merchant, had rightfully

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

entered the T ransvaal as a minor under charge of his father with the knowledge
and consent of the authorities. His name was inserted in his father's registration
certificate. On attaining the age of 1 6, he applied for registration. His application
was turned down by the Registrar. He appealed to the magistrate, who upheld
the Registrar's decision, and issued an order for his removal from the province.
It remained in abeyance pending consideration of the dispute by the Supreme
Court. The case was dealt with by Justice Wessels who considered the
action of the Government as 'inhuman'. He was candid enough to say 'that
when known it would create a howl throughout the civilized world.' Nevertheless,
under the law as it stood, the learned judge reluctantly dismissed the
application. Justice Wessels' decision was upheld when the applicant went
in appeal before the full bench. The case then went up to the appellate division
of the Supreme Court of South Africa where it was ruled that although the
1 908 legislation in question covered only the registration of minors resident
in the Transvaal at the commencement of that Act, it did not follow that
minors entering lawfully after that date were to be excluded from registration
provided for under the earlier Act 2 of 1 907.

The way Chhotabhai had battled against injustice was ardently
commended by his countrymen in South Africa. In fighting for his son, he
had indirectly fought for the community as a whole. The local government
in the bargain had gained nothing but ignominy. Gandhi himself had worked
very hard on this case. Chhotabhai was anxious to recompense him for
his labour. But the latter refused to take anything for himself. Even then
Chhotabhai placed at his disposal £300 which Gandhi set aside as seed
money for construction of a school building at Phoenix. But if that plan
did not materialise, the amount was to be credited to the Passive
Resistance Fund.

The Government again brought itself into disgrace by the
callousness with which it dealt with a group of Transvaal Indians, who
having been unlawfully deported, sailed back from India under Henry
Polak's charge. Not allowed to land at Durban, they proceeded to Port
Elizabeth and then to Cape Town where also they were refused
permission to land. They were made to return to Durban with the prospect
of being sent back to India. Despite an injunction from the Supreme
Court stopping the deportees' removal from Natal, the Immigration Officer
somehow contrived an evasion of the aforesaid order and despatched
them to Delagoa Bay. These men had been shuttled like this for nearly
two months under such miserable conditions on the deck that one of
them, Narayanswamy, lost his life. Gandhi described it as a case of
'legalized murder' and bracketed it with that of Nagapperi who had earlier
achieved 'immortal fame in his death.'

It was Gandhi's wont to spare no effort to lionise the individuals who
distinguished themselves in the passive resistance movement. One
simple person who had earned his special admiration was R.M. Sodha, an
unregistered pre-war resident of the Transvaal who had gone to Natal

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325

during the Boer War as a refugee. He had been in jail for almost a year for
non-compliance with the Registration Act. All this while, his wife and children
were in Natal. On account of financial and other difficulties, Mrs. Rambhabai
Sodha had to break up her home and move out to the Tolstoy Farm. The lady
and her three children, including an eighteen-month-old baby and the eldest
one no more than twelve years, were to accompany Gandhi on one of his
journeys from Natal to the Transvaal. He had given prior information about it
to the Immigration Office at Pretoria.

From the big rumpus in connection with the arrest and prosecution of
an Indian woman named Punia in September 1906, the Transvaal
administration had learnt a lesson which it had not forgotten for over four
years. The establishment of the Union had brought in its wake a renewed
unconcern with ordinary decencies. Not caring for the effect it would have on
the Indian sentiment, the authorities at Volksrust charged Mrs. Sodha as a
prohibited immigrant. The British Indian Association protested against it to
the Union Government's Minister of Interior. Promptly General Smuts replied
regretting his inability to interfere with the course of law. During the journey
itself Gandhi again telegraphed to the Chief Immigration Officer, particularly
stressing that Mrs. Sodha was being taken to the Tolstoy Farm for refuge
and that she would retire from the Transvaal at the end of the struggle. This
telegram also had no effect. The trial took place at Johannesburg and Gandhi
appeared as defence counsel. The two main points on which he laid emphasis
were: in the first place, Mr. Sodha, husband of the accused, was not in any
sense a prohibited immigrant; secondly, by the Common Law of South Africa
Mrs. Sodha had a right to follow her husband into the Transvaal. The
proceedings were watched by the local Indians with keen interest. The Indian
ladies looked after Mrs. Sodha with great tenderness. With the small baby in
her arms and three years oid child by her side, she presented a pathetic
sight. The magistrate punished her with a fine of £1 0 and one month's simple
imprisonment. The legal battle went on for a long time and then got intermixed
with the Gandhi-Smuts negotiations. The matter had, however, caused a
great deal of bitterness.

Already galled by the continued persecution of satyagrahis and
even victimisation of others in various ways, the Indian community gave
itself up to despair when a number of municipalities passed resolutions
asking for expulsion of Indian businessmen from the country on payment
of compensation. Gandhi was amazed to know that some of the affected
persons were trying to reconcile themselves to leaving the Transvaal if
they were adequately compensated. He could immediately see that
this kind of response to the new challenge was utterly senseless. He
wrote about it in Indian Opinion :

We shall prove ourselves cowards if we allow the Government to

drive us out... we have as much right to be in this land as the whites

have. From one point of view, we have a better right. The negroes

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

alone are the original inhabitants... We have not seized the
land from them by force; we live here with their goodwill. The
whites, on the other hand, have occupied the country forcibly
and appropriated to themselves.

This particular utterance on Gandhi's part, apart from being a shot-in-the-arm
to his countrymen, represented an important stage in the evolution of his
thinking regarding South Africa's overall racial problem. It is satyagraha that
had lifted him to this level of broad-based humanist approach, tran-scending
an exclusive concern about the Indian community.

During the latter half of 1 91 0, about a hundred satyagrahis continued
to court imprisonment. Apart from a few dedicated persons intimately
connected with top leadership from the very beginning, all others were
members of the Tamil Benefit Society. There was hardly a male Tamil adult
left in the Transvaal who had not been to jail. V.A. Chettiar, Chairman of the
aforesaid Society, had been imprisoned thrice and his son seven times. It
was well-known that this family had been fending for itself by selling the
jewellery of its womenfolk.

Even while Gandhi was busy keeping the passive resistance movement
in the T ransvaal alive, he intently watched the happenings in other provinces.
The Orange Free State had never relented in the policy of having its gates
closed against Asians. The Cape whites were anxious to prevent the Natal
Indians from entering the province. Within its own jurisdiction it did not allow
Indians to have access to the so called 'Kaffir' districts such as the Transkei
so that they may not extend their commercial activity to those areas. Even in
the matter of trade licenses they encountered various difficulties.

in Natal, handicaps in the matter of securing permits for trade, in spite
of some relief that an amendment to the Dealers' Licensing Act had allowed
by way of a provision for appeal to the Supreme Court, still remained a serious
menace to the Indian merchants. Every-person, dissatisfied with the Licensing
Officers' dispensation, could not afford to take his case to the Supreme Court.
Gandhi's advice to his brethren in Natal was to ceaselessly agitate for their
trading rights till justice was rendered to them.

The Natal Indian politics had been complicated by the emergence
of the colonial-born educated Indians as an important social entity. This
section had good enough reasons to be dissatisfied with the Natal Indian
Congress dominated by the affluent Gujarati merchants. Fdr a few years
the new elite had been trying to promote their interests under the banner
of the Natal Indian Patriotic Union (NIPU) led by P.S. Aiyer. They were not
at all happy about the NIC's somewhat apathetic attitude towards the
problems which the indentured Indians had to face, particularly the £3 annual
poll tax. Another complaint they had against the well-to-do traders was

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327

that the latter had always remained hesitant to offer employment

opportunities to the educated young Indians looking for white-collar jobs.

They themselves were anxious to gain access to the already shrinking

Indian trade sector. By itself such an aspiration on their part was

understandable, but Gandhi felt much distressed when some of them

went to the extent of obtaining trading licenses by supporting their

applications with a statement from certain European colonists that, in

view of the differences between the Mohammedans and other Indians, the
•

latter should not be obliged to make their purchases from Muslim shops.
Gandhi had to warn the entire Indian community that with such disunity
making its appearance they would soon be heading for complete ruin.

***

The essence of satyagraha, as conceived by Gandhi, was to miss
no opportunity of reaching the opponent's conscience and exercising
moral pressure on him. The Union Parliament was to be inaugurated in
November 1 91 0. The Duke of Connaught had taken a trip to South Africa
to coincide with this occasion. To express its resentment, the Transvaal
BIA chose not to associate itself with the presentation of an address of
welcome to His Royal Highness or join the public rejoicings. This was
communicated by the Association in a politely worded letter to the Private
Secretary to the Duke which also contained the reasons for this course of
action, namely, the death of the deportee Narainswamy, the tyrannical
proceedings against minors, the impending prosecution of Mrs. Sodha,
and the continued sufferings of the passive resisters. The Cape Indians
and the Natal Congress also did not participate in the public celebrations.
This gentle protest could not go unnoticed.

Slowly it dawned on Botha and Smuts that no amount of repression
was going to break the Indian resistance movement. In December 1910, the
Union Government announced its intention of reopening the entire immigration
issue. What it was going to do was linked with continuation or stoppage of
indentured immigration from India into Natal. The Union Government had reached
the conclusion that until this inflow came to a halt it was impossible to have
an atmosphere, conducive to a quick solution of the Indian problem. On the
other hand, Natal had joined the Union with an understanding that immigration
of indentured labour from India would not be discontinued too soon. Nothing
could be more convenient from the Botha ministry's point of view than the
Government of India somehow deciding to prohibit indentured emigration on its
own. In that case the ministry would achieve its end and satisfy the white
public opinion in the Transvaal without causing offence to Natal. The Secretary
of State for Colonies was glad to help the Union Government in this matter as
long as he could thereby facilitate settlement of the Asiatic problem in the
Transvaal. With the Government of India already under internal pressure for
termination of indentured emigration, and the India Office as helpful as

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GANDHI —ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

ever, the Colonial Office had no difficulty in carrying through the idea. As
had been desired by the Union Government, the Secretary of State for
Colonies also saw to it that when the Government of India did take the
desired step the reasons given for it should be such as would fit into the

Union's political strategy.

At the time the Viceroy finally considered the issue, he had to
weigh all the pros and cons. The official view put before him was that
even if supply of indentured labour to Natal was stopped, the Transvaal
may not liberalise its India policy to any great extent. In the bargain the
Indians would lose 'the very profitable field of emigration to Natal, and
would get in return nothing, but a slight relaxation of restrictions
elsewhere.' The Government of India, however, chose to go by the
pressure of public opinion as represented by the Indian National Congress
and decided that it would issue a notification on April 1, prohibiting
indentured emigration to Natal from July 1, 1911. While informing the
Secretary of State about it on January 2, the Viceroy added: 'It will be
announced that this decision has been taken in view of the unsatisfactory
position created by the divergence between the Indians' and colonists'
standpoints, and by the absence of any guarantee that Indians will be
accepted as permanent citizens of the Union after the expiration of their
indentures.' Gandhi felt exceedingly happy when this 'gladsome news'
reached him. He looked at it as 'a notable victory' achieved by the Indians
of South Africa, as a consequence of Henry Polak's labours in India
about this issue and all that Gokhaie had done about it.

***

The Union Government was now able to turn its attention to settlement
of the Asiatic problem. Earlier, it had thought of framing the Immigration Bill
on lines that allowed for divergent dispensation in different provinces as
required by the policy traditionally followed in each unit. By February 1911,
the cabinet had veered round to the idea of a uniform immigration law,
leaving scope for each province to pursue its own racial policy, as guaranteed
by the South Africa Act of 1 909.

The Immigration Bill, as gazetted on February 25, 1911, besides
providing for consolidation and amendment of the relevant laws in force in
different provinces, sought to regulate immigration into the Union or any of its
provinces. One of its important features was the repeal of the Transvaal Act 2
of 1907 (Black Act), save the protection it provided to the rights of Asiatic
minors. The education test prescribed was to be so stiff that it would not be
easy for an average person to pass it. The Indian languages were not, however,
excluded for this purpose. The penalties and other regulations relating to
prohibited immigrants were also to apply to the entry of persons, domiciled in
one province, into other provinces of the Union.

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329

Gandhi was at this time well primed for reaching a settlement as long
as he did not have to give up any of the basic demands he had been voicing
on behalf of the British Indians. The Hind Swaraj was a clear signal of his
future plans to offer himself for participation in India’s struggle for independence.
He could do that only on conclusion of the task he had on his
hand in the Transvaal. Moreover, in his heart of hearts he knew that the
current phase of the passive resistance movement, already at a low ebb,
could not be sustained too long. So nothing could be more welcome to
Gandhi than this initiative on the Government's part.

He immediately scrutinised the proposed legislation. Broadly speaking,
the Bill offered scope for withdrawal of the satyagraha campaign in the
Transvaal but it all depended on how some of the provisions were to be
interpreted. Somehow, he approached General Smuts to obtain certain
clarifications in so far as provisions of the Bill were relevant to the ongoing
Asiatic struggle in the Transvaal, before he had consulted R. Gregorowski, a
lawyer of Johannesburg whose opinion he frequently sought on legal and
constitutional matters.

Gandhi, having carefully studied the Bill, saw that from the point of
view of Asian settlers in the Cape and Natal, the Bill was very unfavourable,
as it entailed a material curtailment of their existing rights. But he did not
want to mix the specific aims of the passive resistance movement in the
T ransvaal with questionable features of the Bill in relation to other provinces.
He charged Louis Ritch with the responsibility of organising a deputation
to wait on the Minister of Interior, from the Cape, with a written submission.
In case he did not give a satisfactory answer, the Cape Indians were to
address a petition to Parliament and put pressure on the Cape members who
had hitherto been sympathetic. Thanks to the Indians’ support at the ballot
box, they should, according to him, do their best to help them. Gandhi,
similarly, worked out a strategy to be adopted by the Natal brethren. Henry
Polak was to be in Durban for this purpose.

Whatever was to be done on behalf of Natal was particularly important
because of Gandhi's old association with that Colony and the active help that
the Indian community there had extended to the passive resistance movement
in the Transvaal. On the basis of a draft sent by Gandhi to Polak, the Natal Indian
Congress got ready a petition to the Union Parliament. The objections against
the proposed legislation listed in this representation referred to replacement of
simple education test in a European language known to an intending immigrant
by a rigorous evaluation in a language to be chosen by the Immigration Officer,
inadequate protection of the entry and residence rights of the domiciled Indians,
particularly their wives and minor children, and absence of a provision for an
aggrieved party to seek redress in a court of law. It is not surprising that the
colonial-born Indian youth had felt much aggrieved about the NIC not having
taken adequate notice of the proposed restriction on inter-provincial migration
by the persons already domiciled in one of the provinces. Despite PS. Aiyer's
vehement protest, the NIC did not like to take a definite stand on this

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

issue. The Indians born in South Africa, led by R.N. Moodley, looking for
special rights relating to freedom of movement within the Union refused to go
along with the NIC if it could not look after their interests. That is how the
Colonial Born Indian Association (CBIA) came to be established on March
13, 1911. Gandhi knew what was happening in Natal. He asked Polak to
advise these impetuous young men that 'immediately the matter is settled
and the Bill is on the Statute-book, we will have to present our Bill of Rights
throughout the Union, and work away for it, leaving me out of account...'
Polak was able to keep the CBIA quiet for the time being. Why Gandhi
wanted to be left out regarding the subsequent course of action obviously
had something to do with his own plans for the future.

The India Office was on this occasion unusually alert and pointed out
through the Secretary of State for Colonies some of the flaws in the Bill. Lord
Crewe, who at this time presided over the India Office, did not countenance the
Union Government's intention of severely curtailing the admission of Asians into
the Cape and Natal. He frankly stated: ' ...the effect of the Union of the colonies,
as regards Indian immigration, will be that the Transvaal policy will be extended
to the whole Union, whereas it had been hoped that the policy of the Union would
be based upon the more generous spirit of the Cape Colony system.' The same
view was echoed by the Viceroy from Calcutta. But the Colonial Office did not
like to interfere with a measure seeking to check new immigrants as long as it
was not vitiated by an explicit note of racial discrimination.

General Smuts did not take more than two days to give the
clarifications Gandhi had sought on March 2, 1911 . The specific point at
issue was whether the educated Asiatics who had passed the test
prescribed by the Immigration Office would be able to enter and remain in
the Transvaal without having to go through the process of registration.
Gandhi thankfully welcomed the assurance he had been given in regard to
this doubt. In fact the official reply had gone further and had indicated that
the Asiatics admitted as immigrants under the new Act would not fall
under registration laws and would not be restricted to provincial limits. In
the meantime, Gandhi had got his legal counsel's opinion. According to
the advice received, he found it necessary to press for certain amendments
to the proposed law so that no scope was left for later disputes.

As things proceeded, it looked as if almost all issues would be settled.
But on one point of principle, Gandhi found himself on a sticky wicket. He
was now urging that the Bill should be so amended that the Asians who
were admitted after passing the education test to be prescribed did not
come within the purview of the 1908 Registration Act of the Transvaal and
the Free State Asiatic Act. When Smuts actually came to the point of
proposing an amendment, Gandhi could see that the General did not
mean to meet his objection fully. Even after the proposed amendment the
future Asian immigrants would still be subject to the Free State restrictive
law if and when they sought entry into that province. This, according
to him, meant a step towards insertion of colour bar in the Union immigration

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331

law. The moment Gandhi raised this issue, another bone of contention was
there to cause locking of horns. Smuts, it appears, had in the meantime been
influenced by the Free State, members of Parliament who were determined to
maintain status quo so far as their province was concerned. He refused to
alter the position as it obtained under the existing Free State law. He made
it clear to Gandhi that if he persisted with this demand he would only provoke
the European community and complicate the position still further. William
Hosken was among those who supported Gandhi in this matter. A telegram
from him on the subject provoked Smuts to reply in a temper:

I can only express my regret at your action which I feel is ill-
considered and mischievous. It is not you who will suffer in the
end, but the Indian community against whom the white
population is becoming daily more exasperated and demanding
even more stringent legislation. A golden chance for a final
settlement is now to be thrown away because of the absolutely
new contention that educat-ed Asiatics must also be admitted,
not only into the Transvaal but the O.F.S. as well.

Smuts had gone back on the assurance he had given on March
4. The brusqueness he displayed in addressing William Hosken was
part of his impatience with all those whites who had chosen to uphold
the cause of Indians. In dealing with Gandhi, however, he was always
more prudent and regardful.

By this time the resistance movement had been lulled into a state of
inertness. A few satyagra his were still undergoing their terms of imprisonment.
The Government had stopped making further arrests, pending introduction of
the Immigration Bill that was under negotiation.

PROVISIONAL SETTLEMENT

The Government of India, in fulfilment of its earlier undertaking, notified
on the 1 st of April that emigration of indentured labour to South Africa would
cease with effect from July 1,1911. Gandhi and Smuts were at this time
caught in a tangle which was not easy to resolve. Initially both of them had
been enthusiastic about the new legislation on the anvil without having a
good feel of the ground they were treading. Gandhi did not detect some of the
loopholes in the draft measure when he first examined it. He had opened
communication with the Minister of Interior too hurriedly before his legal adviser
had given him the briefing from his side. General Smuts also had come forward
with certain assurances too readily, not anticipating the kind of opposition
the proposed enactment was going to meet with from representatives of the
Orange Free State.

Gandhi had much to say against the Bill in so far as it affected the
Asiatics in Natal and the Cape, but he considered that aspect unconnected
with the passive resistance campaign in the Transvaal. On the other hand,
if under the new legislation in question the small number of well-educated
Indians to be admitted in future on passing the stiffest possible test were
to be prevented from residing in any part of the subcontinent, including
the Orange Free State, or subjected to the invidious provincial registration
laws, it amounted to introduction of the colour bar at the apex level. Gandhi
did not want the racial differentiation, against which the Transvaal Indians
had struggied so long, to be implanted in the manuals of the Union
Immigration Department. He was aware that there would be hardly any
Indian who would actually go to the Free State. The whole issue revolved
around a principle rather than material advantage. The satyagraha in the
Transvaal was a fight against the racial bar in the laws of that Colony. The
passive resisters were bound to object against a similar evil finding place
in the Union legislation to be passed with the sole purpose of undoing
what was wrong with the Transvaal laws.

Smuts wanted to dismiss the matter by saying that this was a
completely new issue which had never come up for discussion earlier,
forgetting that the Union Government had initially thought in terms of allowing
the admission of a limited number of educated Indians who would 'after
such entry possess permanent residential rights in any province.’ The Minister
of Interior himself had stated in his telegram of March 4 to Gandhi that
Asiatics admitted as immigrants under the new law 'would not fall under

PROVISIONAL SETTLEMENT

333

registration laws and would not be restricted to provincial limits.' Due to
political compulsions, Smuts was trying to extricate himself from the
commitment he had made.

The issue was discussed in detail at Gandhi's interview with Genera!
Smuts on March 27, 1 91 1 :

Gandhi:

Smuts:

Gandhi:

Smuts:

Gandhi:

Smuts:

Gandhi:

Smuts:

Gandhi:

Smuts:

Gandhi:

Smuts:

Gandhi:

Smuts:

Gandhi:

Smuts:

Gandhi:

Smuts:

Gandhi:

You know that in the Transvaal Immigration Law there is no
colour bar, but you read subsection 4 of the Asiatic Act, and
you have the bar.

You are not stating it fairly.

Then you shall state it in your own words.

In the Transvaal we wanted total exclusion and that is brought
about by the combined effect of the two laws.

And now you want the same thing for the Free State. The
combined effect of the Free State Law and the new Bill will
be [to] shut out even the Nizam of Flyderabad, and I assure you
that the passive resisters will fight against it.

There you are unreasonable.

I must deny the charge. I am not at all anxious that a single
Indian should actually enter the Free State. I am sincerely
anxious to help you.

You do not know my difficulties.

I do. And because I know, I suggest that only so much of the
Free State law should be a basis for exemption as will enable a
highly educated Indian to enter the Free State. If you send for
the Law, I will show you what I mean.

(Sends for the Law) But the Free Staters will never consent.
Then why did General Botha write to Lord Crewe that educated
immigrants would be able to enter any province?

You do not know all the dispatches. We have not printed
everything, you know. Lord Crewe knows that we never wanted
to give the rights as to the Free State.

But you repeated the same thing at the second reading.

Yes. I was simply sounding the Free Staters, and I noticed that
they were very much opposed .

If they are, it is your duty to persuade them, and if they cannot
be, you may simply amend the Transvaal legislation.

But I am bound to the Imperial Government to pass this Bill.
(Reads the Law and asks Gandhi to go over to his side. Gandhi
points out the section from which the exemption is to be granted).
Yes, I now see what you mean.

The educated Asiatics will still be prohibited from owning
fixed property and from trading. I am not raising that issue at all.
But you have no idea of my difficulties.

I know that you are quite able to overcome greater difficulties.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Smuts: All right, I shall now talk to the Free State members. I hope you

will keep the Cape and the Natal Indians silent.

Gandhi: They will certainly not remain silent. It is absolutely necessary
to protect existing rights.

On this last issue, Gandhi remarked that he would better take it up later.

Before parting they had a brief general conversation.

Smuts: What are you doing in Jo'burg these days?

Gandhi: Looking after the families of the passive resisters.

Smuts: It has hurt me more than you to imprison these people. It has

been the most unpleasant episode of my life to imprison men
who suffer for their conscience.

Gandhi: And yet you are persecuting Mrs. Sodha.

What reply General Smuts gave to this innuendo is not on record. He

knew very well how to circumvent anything that was inconvenient.

For practically the whole of April, Gandhi remained in Cape Town,
negotiating with the Union Government and at the same time trying to win
over members of Parliament for lending a helping hand regarding the
improvements he sought in the proposed immigration law. Louis Ritch had
moved to Johannesburg to look after the BIA office there. He and his counterpart
in Durban, Henry Polak, enabled Gandhi to have his hand on the pulse of his
countrymen in the Transvaal and Natal.

General Smuts was not a simple person to deal with. For his own part
he would not easily bind himself to anything specific, and yet he managed to
get Gandhi round to putting in black and white his suggestions for bringing
the Asiatic struggle in the Transvaal to a close. One proposal put forward by
him on April 7, 1911 was a concrete statement of amendments to the
Immigration Bill. The alternative solution proposed by him was: the proposed
legislation be dropped and necessary changes (spelt out by him) be made in
the Transvaal Statute-book, in which case the question regarding the Orange
Free State would not arise.

The following day, Gandhi met Patrick Duncan who had in 1906
initiated the idea behind the Black Act but was now in favour of measures
of redress for Indians. In their conversation it came to light that General
Smuts had shown the aforesaid letter to Duncan and had given him the
impression that the present Bill might be dropped and the alternative
solution brought up by Gandhi adopted. Within a week the situation had
changed and again there was a talk of passing the general Bill. After
many twists and turns the position that emerged was: the Government
would like to have the suitably revised immigration law passed, but it may not be

PROVISIONAL SETTLEMENT

335

possible to go ahead with it during the current session. Meanwhile, with
the coronation approaching, the Union Government did not like the agitation
to continue. It was General Smuts' duty to sell the idea to Gandhi. They
had another discussion on April 19,1911. The General was exceptionally
cordial on this occasion. First he explained why the alternative put forward
by Gandhi was not politically feasible. He then came to the Bill already
tabled. The Free State members were still opposed to admitting any
Asiatic. Smuts thought he could beat them in the Lower House, but the
Senate would throw it out. He was, therefore, in favour of taking up the
measure in the next session. But meanwhile he wanted peace. On this
point he went to great lengths to win over the Indian plenipotentiary. He
made it known to Gandhi that he had read his book, Indian Home Rule ,
and went on to say: 'You are a simple-living and frugal race, in many
respects more intelligent than we are. You belong to a civilization that is
thousands of years old. Ours, as you say, is but an experiment. Who
knows that the whole damned thing will [not] perish before long.' Along
with this sweetener he urged Gandhi to see if he could give him some
more time and in the meantime put his campaign on the hanger. To make
the idea a little more palatable, he very gently asked Gandhi to think over
the issue and let him know. The interview ended on a personal note:

Smuts : Gandhi, what are you doing for a living?

Gandhi: I am not practising at present.

Smuts : But how then are you living? Have you plenty of money?

Gandhi: No. I'm living like a pauper, the same as other passive resisters
on Tolstoy Farm.

Smuts : Whose farm is it?

Gandhi: It is Mr. Kallenbach's. He is a German.

Smuts: (laughing) Oh, old Kallenbach! He is your admirer, eh? I know.

Gandhi: I do not know that he is my admirer. We are certainly very great
friends.

Smuts : I must come and see the farm — where is it?

Gandhi: NearLawley.

Smuts : I know — on the Vereeniging line. What's the distance from the
station?

Gandhi: About 20 minutes. We shall be pleased to see you there.

Smuts : Yes, I must come one day.

Before taking leave of General Smuts, Gandhi assured him that he would
think over the whole thing. But in the same breath he remarked: 'If you want
peace, why do you want to persecute Mrs. Sodha?'

Smuts : I do not indeed.

Gandhi: But you are going to imprison her.

Smuts : No. I know nothing about this case.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Gandhi: The appeal is going to be heard on Saturday. If we lose it,
she must go to gaol or pay £10. She won’t pay the fine, and
must therefore go to gaol.

Smuts: No, I do not want her to go to gaol. You let me know the result of

the appeal and I shall see to it that she is not arrested. Let me
know at once, will you?

Gandhi: Thank you, I will.

The same day Gandhi wrote back to Smuts explaining why he could
not suspend the movement. Between April 1 9 and 22, however, the fly-wheel
moved fast. When Gandhi returned to Johannesburg on April 26, he had
in his possession an important letter from General Smuts' Private Secretary
which along with his own letter of April 22 constituted the basis of a provisional
settlement. Why did Gandhi opt for it? On April 21 , when he went to Smuts'
Private Secretary, the latter had shown him confidential correspondence with
the Governor-General which revealed why the Bill could not possibly be pushed
through right then, whether the Indians stopped passive resistance or not.
The campaign had already gone on too long and was gradually losing its
thrust. Gandhi, therefore, felt drawn towards suspending it if he could get
adequate assurances in the bargain. The terms tentatively agreed upon were:
legislation would be introduced during the next session of Parliament to repeal
the Asiatic Registration Act of 1907, subject to protection of the rights of
minors; the legislation would have provisions giving legal equality to all
immigrants with differential treatment of administrative, as distinct from
statutory, character; passive resisters who, but for their political activity, would
have been entitled to register would now be permitted to do so; educated
passive resisters, residing at that time in the Transvaal, but not registerable
under the existing law, would be allowed to stay on in anticipation of the new
law provided their number did not exceed six.

Gandhi had, on this basis, undertaken to persuade his countrymen
to suspend passive resistance. The matter was considered by the BIA on
April 27. Keeping in view the answers to questions asked at this meeting,
the Association passed a resolution approving of the provisional accord.
Gandhi, however, could see that it was necessary to have some of the
points clarified by the Government before the resistance movement was
formally suspended. The correspondence between the two sides from April
29 to May 20 went a long way towards settlement of numerous issues
which otherwise would have given rise to confusion.

The Government was at this time in a conciliatory mood and did
not hesitate to yield on certain points. For example, the number of educated
Indians to be granted immigration to the Transvaal during the current year
was increased from six to ten with a view to accommodating some cases
of extreme hardship. The individual rights of the passive resisters, including
those who had been deported, were fully protected. A satisfactory
settlement was also reached with regard to the Chinese passive resisters.

PROVISIONAL SETTLEMENT

337

The Association having clearly signified acceptance of the provisional
accord, the satyagrahis still undergoing imprisonment were released. A
football match on June 5 at Johannesburg between the passive resisters
at this place and their counterparts from Pretoria was a manifestation of
the spirit in which they fought so long and now welcomed the happy note
on which their struggle had ended for the time being.

***

Since the time passive resistance campaign was launched by the
Transvaal Indians, their grievances other than those specifically covered by
the movement had naturally been side-tracked. The BIA had always regarded
political rights such as that of franchise unthinkable; but it certainly resented
the disabilities relating to residence, trade and ownership of landed property
except in bazaars or locations earmarked for Asians. In most cases these
locations were situated so far away from the regular urban centres that the
Indian traders found it practically impossible to have viable commercial
establishments there. They were further handicapped by comparatively short
term leasehold titles. It had still been possible for some Indians having
good contacts with Europeans to become virtual owners of land outside the
locations by indirect methods. The Townships Act of 1908 had sought to
remove the scope for such expedients. It had a provision whereby a white
settler having title to a plot of land was not permitted to transfer or sublet
any portion of it to a coloured person other than his bona fide servant.
Similarly the Base Metals Act of 1 908, generally known as Gold Law, had
prohibited white residents, who alone could acquire leasehold rights to land
in the mining areas, from transferring or outletting it to coloured persons.
The whole idea was to enforce segregation and to push the Asiatics into
locations set apart for them in the mining district as well. That such prejudicial
laws had been added to the Statute-book already disfigured by legislation
preventing the use of foot-paths and tramcars by non-whites could not but
cause a greater sense of insecurity among Asians. To make things worse,
the Union Government was under constant pressure to restrict the issue of
trade licenses to non-whites.

In the midst of his preoccupation with negotiations about the
immigration law, Gandhi prepared a petition to the Secretary of State for
Colonies bringing up the various sundry issues with regard to which the
Transvaal Indian community was feeling aggrieved and asking for his
intervention. It was submitted on May 1, 1911. Later, Henry Polak who
had left for England in the first week of May, on reaching London, very
forcefully represented the case to the Colonial Office on behalf of the
South Africa British India Committee. He was one person who could see
what the future had in store for Indians in the Transvaal: The net effect of
these several enactments is to shake the security of Indian investments and
the compulsory segregation of Indian traders in locations where no business

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

can be done, and where they will be unable to hold any relations with their
present clientele... The policy that is being pursued is... calculated to oblige
lawfully resident Indians, who cannot be removed in any other way, to leave
the country, apparently of their own accord, because conditions are no longer
bearable for them.'

As far as Natal was concerned, the Dealers' Licenses Act was
continuing to be a nightmare for the Indian merchants in that Colony. Its
amendment in 1 909 allowing the right of appeal to the Supreme Court had
not covered cases of new licenses. Transfer of business from one place to
another was well nigh impossible. The NIC, anxiously looking for relief,
was happy that trade-licensing, according to the South Africa Act, was one
of the Union subjects. The Indian merchants thought they would get a
better deal from the Union Government. The European trading class,
naturally, was unhappy about the province losing control over the licensing
policy. Early in April 1911, the Natal Provincial Council passed a resolution
which was in the nature of a proposal to the Union Parliament for restoration
to the Council the powers to legislate with regard to granting or withholding
of commercial licenses.

In this province the licensing problem, as the European settlers looked
at it, was how at least to maintain the status quo, whereas in the Transvaal
the question was that of retrieval from a situation which the white public
opinion was not prepared to tolerate. There the Asiatics had many other
problems, but as far as the trade licenses were concerned they could get
them without much difficulty as long as they had paid the prescribed fees. If
any application was turned down, the person concerned could go to the court
of law. Partly because of the signals from Natal and partly in view of the
position obtaining in the Transvaal, the Union Government felt induced to go
in for a law which, among other things, aimed at transferring legislative
jurisdiction in licensing matters from the Union to the provinces. At the instance
of the Secretary of State for Colonies, the Governor-General had tried to
plead with the cabinet for moderation but to no effect. It was only incidental
that for want of time the Bill could not be pushed through during the current
session. All the same, this development was a clear sign of great impatience
among the whites against Asiatic entrepreneurship in trade and commerce.
On May 21,191 2, the Governor-General had written to the Secretary of State:
'It is easy to regret, but it is impossible to deny, that public opinion throughout
the country is growing increasingly restive in its attitude towards the Asiatic
trading competition. The danger may be imaginary. The anxiety and intolerance
are real.' The intended legislation was ultimately passed in 1 91 3 and the only
safety valve left was section 147 of the South Africa Act that vested in the
Governor-General in council 'the control and administration ... of matters
specially or differentially affecting Asiatics throughout the Union.'

PROVISIONAL SETTLEMENT

339

Gandhi's idea regarding a Bill of Rights covering the entire Indian
community in South Africa had in a way been implemented by Polak in
his representation to the Colonial Office dated June 1 7,1 911 on behalf of
the SABIC, following the petitions addressed by the Transvaal BIA, the
Cape British Indian Union and the NIC to the Secretary of State for Colonies
on May 1 ,3 and 15,1911 .

The emergence of the CBIA in Natal and the divergence between the
priorities by which this body and the NIC were guided had ultimately led to
projection of the indentured Indians' old grievance about the £3 tax as one of
the most important issues. This levy exacted from the poor labourers who
wanted to remain in Natal on completion of their term of contract was causing
serious distress. Early enough it had been found that many ex-indentured
Indians were not paying it for the simple reason that they just did not have the
means to do so. To enforce the payment of this tax, a law had been passed
in 1905 prohibiting any person from employing or letting land to an ex-
indentured labourer from India who could not produce the receipt for his £3
license-fee for the year running. It also provided that an employer could pay
the amount and deduct it from the wages of the worker. An employer guilty of
violating this Act was liable to pay a fine of £5. This is how the time-expired
labourers were forced to pay the tax or leave the country.

With the Government of India threatening to stop indentured
immigration to Natal and a section of planters clamouring for more Indian
labour, the Natal Government had tried to ease the situation by half¬
heartedly legislating in early 1910 for certain concessions to the ex-
indentured labourers. The new law empowered the magistrates to relieve
Indian women from payment of the tax if they could show sufficient cause
for such relief. It also gave exemption from payment of the levy to those
labourers who, after having defaulted, chose to go in for re-indenture.
There was, however, a lot of confusion regarding interpretation of the
circulars issued by the Natal administration as to whether this remission
applied only to the arrears or to the tax due for the running year as well.
Attempts were made to exact the levy for the current period from 'the
poor, deluded re-indentured men,’ all the same. Now this subject was
figuring in Gandhi's writings for Indian Opinion quite frequently. The South
Africa Indian Committee, the new elite's latest political organization
launched by P.S. Aiyer in October 1911 was concentrating all its energies
on the outright abolition of the tax.

The memorial addressed by the Natal Congress to the Secretary of
State for Colonies on May 15, 1911 covered not only the problems of
trade-licensing and £3 tax but also the restrictions on immigration as
contemplated by the Union Government. On the last point the contention
of the Congress was that the proposed legislation would involve in various
ways a curtailment in the existing rights of the Natal Indian community.
As regards the number of new immigrants, even on the basis of six per
year conceded for the T ransvaal with a possible Indian population of 1 5,000,

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

twelve to be allowed for the whole Union could not suffice. Taking into
account the fact that the Indian population of the Cape was not less than
1 5,000 and that of Natal not less than 1 50,000, including indentured Indians,
in proportion to the numbers, there was a strong case for allowing 72 educated
Indian immigrants in a year. Moderating their demand, the memorialists
suggested that at least 50 British Indians should be allowed to enter under
any education test that might be proposed.

***

Gandhi could have resumed his legal work at this time, if he so desired
but he had no such intention. He had already arranged for his law practice,
even now capable of fetching £200 a month, to be taken over by Louis Ritch.
The immediate task on his hand was to help the passive resisters to re-establish
themselves in their normal occupations and restore to their homes the women
and children who had taken refuge in the Tolstoy Farm. It was not clear how
long some of the children whose parents were badly impoverished would have
to be taken care of. particularly concerning their education. Subject to his
ability to find sufficient time, he proposed to engage himself in farming and
weaving which he thought would harmonise with his transmundane pursuits.
His whole approach to life was now marked by a profound sense of detachment
and an exceptional form of austerity. Even about the Phoenix Farm he had
started thinking in terms of converting it with all its assets into a public
trust.

Although the pressure of political work for the time being had
diminished and Gandhi had freed himself from his commitments as a
practising lawyer, he led an extremely busy life at the Tolstoy Farm. Much
of his time was divided between physical labour and teaching. For attending
to his correspondence and other writing work he would keep himself awake
till late at night.

***

Among Gandhi's close associates, Henry Polak to whom the Indian
community felt deeply indebted, was now in England. He remained there for
about four months. Even during this short period of well-earned rest, he worked
on Lord Ampthill's committee and rendered valuable service. In October 1911
he along with his wife left for India to take up once again the work of acquainting
its people and Government with the problems still confronting the Indians in
South Africa. Hermann Kallenbach, Gandhi's brother in arms, with his
extraordinary track-record of service to the Transvaal Indians, was to go to
Europe for a few months to meet the members of his family in Germany.
Albert West was continuing to manage the affairs at Phoenix and look after
the work connected with Indian Opinion.

PROVISIONAL SETTLEMENT

341

Sonja Schlesin, who had been Gandhi's Secretary for about six years,
had become more than his right hand. She had come to him not for the
salary she was to get but because of her interest in Gandhi's ideals. For a
long time she drew only £6 a month. Later, when Gandhi wanted to increase
her pay, she refused to receive more than £1 0. Hardly seventeen at the time
she started working for Gandhi, she assumed within a short period a lot of
responsibility, impressed by her honesty and competence, Gandhi relied on
her for assistance in his professional as well as political work. He considered
her command over English better than his own. He seldom had to make a
correction in the letters typed by her. What is more important, she completely
identified herself with the Indian cause and laboured for it tirelessly. She too
had her idiosyncrasies, which often created difficulties, impatient and impulsive
by nature, she sometimes behaved in a manner that smacked of arrogance.
But essentially she was so well-meaning and noble that whatever problems
arose because of her impetuousness could be easily resolved. Her reputation
was so good that many a person, up against some thorny problem, would
seek her guidance. When almost all the leaders of the Indian community
were in jail, she played an important part in looking after the passive resistance
movement. The Transvaal Government had been wise enough not to put her
under arrest at any time.

The young Parsi Sorabji Shapurji had distinguished himself as one of
the most devoted and disciplined satyagrahis. Besides suffering imprisonment
a number of times, he had made a deep study of the Asiatic problem in South
Africa. He was respected as much for his knowledge of the subject as for his
mature thinking and kindly disposition. After his return to Natal on conclusion
of the Transvaal campaign, he proceeded to India for a brief visit. He was the
person who later in the year put the case of Indians in South Africa before the
Indian National Congress at Calcutta.

***

Gandhi had noticed a slight improvement in General Smuts' attitude.
But he knew that this change was largely due to his anxiety to restore
peace in the Transvaal before the Imperial Conference to be held in London
on June 1 9 and the coronation of King George V scheduled for June 22.
General Botha who had taken a trip to England for attending the aforesaid
conference had declared that he was very satisfied with the provisional
settlement. Having asserted that the new immigrants from India could be
limited to the number agreed to, he promised that everything possible
would be done to make the living conditions of Asiatics already in the
country as fair as possible.

Surprisingly, the spirit of conciliation was nowhere to be found when
it came to the question of how Indians in South Africa would participate in
the celebrations connected with the coronation. Gandhi pleaded in vain
that the racial distinctions should be cast off at least for this solemn

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

occasion. The authorities persisted with their idea that the Asiatics should
have separate functions among themselves for which they could be allowed
a smail grant. The Indians refused to submit to this humiliation. Even while
boycotting the celebrations, they sent their loyal greetings to the King-Emperor
and Her Majesty. Gandhi was aware of the fact that anyone would consider it
rather anomalous that British Indians of South Africa should tender their loyalty
to the throne and rejoice over the crowning of a sovereign in whose dominions
they did not even enjoy the ordinary civil rights. He himself looked at it as a
constitutional duty which they could perform, without doing any violence to
their conscience. British sovereigns, according to him, were symbols of purity
and justice. In tendering their loyalty to them they only showed their devotion
to those ideals.

***

In October 1911, the Union Government produced another version
of the Immigration Bill. It was some time before the Bill was gazetted
whereafter Gandhi again had to undertake an exercise similar to the one
he had carried out in early 1911 . Although the proposed legislation was
better in some respects, it suffered from a number of new faults. It vested
unlimited powers with the Immigration Officer in regard to the rights of
domiciled Asiatics and their wives and children, seriously disturbing the
existing legal position. An almost impossible education test for checking
new overseas immigration was now to apply to inter-provincial migration
also. The previous problem about the entry in the Orange Free State had
been met with, but a new objectionable element had been introduced. The
Asiatics who by passing the education test might enter the Free State
would be required to make a declaration on oath prescribed for those who
wished to settle there for domestic service. The protest made by Gandhi
about the questionable features of the proposed law did not elicit a
satisfactory reply from the Government. While reiterating the case, Gandhi
concluded his telegram of February 1,1912 with the hope that reasonable
alterations in the Bill would be granted and an 'awful revival of struggle
averted.' The further communications received by Gandhi were more
conciliatory in their tone as well as content.

In the meantime, the Natal Congress and the Cape British Indian Union,
both maintaining close contact with Gandhi, dutifully held meetings and passed
resolutions pointing out the numerous objectionable features of the proposed
legislation. There was strong protest against the discretion vested in the
Immigration Officer to decide the complex questions of domicile and those of
marriage and parentage. Another important point of contention was the
restriction on inter-provincial migration.

The resistance that the proposed enactment encountered in Parliament
itself was a lot more stubborn. General Smuts was not much concerned
about criticism from the Liberals who had their sympathies with the

PROVISIONAL SETTLEMENT

343

Indians. His real problem was the uncompromising stand taken by the
conservative elements. They felt that the Bill was too indulgent towards
Indians. Smuts wanted to convince them, as also some distrustful members
of his own party, that the Government had tried to offer the best possible
solution to a problem that was inherently awkward: The difficulty in working
the Immigration Law in this country was considerable, because whilst, on
the one hand, they were most anxious to foster the immigration of white
people, they were equally anxious to keep Asiatics out. (Hear! Hear!) They
had therefore to pass a law applying in the same terms to all sections, but
aiming at bringing certain people in and keeping others out. It looked almost
like a Chinese puzzle.'

Despite all the pains he took, Smuts did not succeed in mustering
enough support for the proposed legislation. Some members suspected that
it might at some stage be used for facilitating the admission of more Indians.
There were others who even feared that it might be employed to exclude
Europeans at some point of time. There were many who on principle were
opposed to entrusting a government department with such arbitrary powers.
The measure had ultimately to be withdrawn with the understanding that a
revised Bill would be prepared for introduction during the next session of
Parliament. It was also decided that pending passage of the legislation as
contemplated, the provisional settlement arrived at with the BIA would hold
good. Meanwhile, six educated Indians would again be admitted into the
Transvaal that year and they would not be subject to registration. Even before
this renewed modus vivendi , avoiding recrudescence of passive resistance,
was agreed upon, General Smuts, following a cabinet reshuffle, had ceased
to be the Minister of Interior and had taken charge of Finance. When this
change came about in June 1 91 2, Smuts who, according to his Prime Minister
'had wasted away to a shadow' trying to settle the Asiatic question, must
have moved to his new ministry with an aching heart. He was personally
committed to complying with the settlement he had arrived at with Gandhi in
April 1911. After a year and more, he was still nowhere near the fulfilment of
his promise. On the other hand, he was passing on the responsibility to the
hands of Abraham Fischer who, everyone knew, was not amicably disposed
towards the British Indian community.

Soon there were signs of greater callousness in the administration
of existing regulations. One concrete case reported by Indian Opinion in
August 1 912: Four Indian residents who had gone to India temporarily,
on return to Cape Town — one of them accompanied by his son — were
refused permission to enter as the time allowed in the permits had
expired. Their counsel had argued that, but for the delay caused by bad
weather, they would have arrived well in time. The judge conceded this
and agreed that the case was one of distinct hardship but could not
afford any relief as he was obliged to 'carry out the plain meaning of the
law' which allowed no exception. Gandhi's comment about this case: The
administration of the immigration laws of South Africa is a disgrace to a

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

civilized country. Could anything be more heartless and cruel than
to send away from their homes men whose only fault was that the ship
in which they had travelled from India had been delayed by storms... At
Durban, Indians who are domiciled in this province are being turned away
almost daily at the caprice of a man who, being a servant of the
Government and therefore of the people, has not the common sense or
tact of a school boy.' The official referred to by Gandhi was C.W. Cousins
who was appointed Immigration Officer for Natal, and who soon became
notorious for causing every kind of hardship to Indians rightfully seeking
entry into South Africa. How could a people, subject to such harassment
even under the existing law, remain unperturbed in the face of a more
restrictive legislation?

UNTO HIS FAMILY

Under the best of circumstances, it is not easy for the wife and
children and other kith and kin of one with the makings of a great man,
to attune themselves to his idiosyncrasies. The situation in which
Gandhi's family was placed was far more difficult. His reformatory zeal
and involvement with a public cause were as deep as the fervour with
which he was striving to get at the ultimate Truth which, according to
him, was another name of God. The boundless power behind these primary
drives had over the years impelled him to shape himself to the demands
of satyagraha not only as a political weapon but also as a way of life, to
take the vow of brahmacharya and embrace poverty with irrepressible
intensity. With the deepest recesses of his inner self permeated by these
ideals and the burning desire to first conquer and then perfect himself,
he had developed his own mode of reasoning, which was difficult to
repudiate but not necessarily flawless. His truth would generally be at
the farthest end of the road. So his conclusions and even actions based
thereon would seldom be tempered with moderation.

It fell to Kasturba's lot (it was her privilege too) to cope with a
husband cast in this extraordinary mould. She had somehow learnt to live
with him but about their sons' education she could not have liked the way
it had been going on. When they joined Gandhi at Johannesburg in early
1 905, there was an opportunity to give fresh thought to this question. At
that time Henry Polak had stayed with them just like another member of
the family. Later, in the last week of December, his fiancee also joined
him and they were immediately united in marriage. In this enlarged
household, the boys' education was a frequent subject of discussion. Henry
Polak and his wife Millie repeatedly argued with Gandhi that his sons
must get proper schooling. The lads themselves were eager to have the
advantage of a sound academic base. But Gandhi stood firm by his earlier
view that in the absence of good institutional education he would wish to
provide the young ones an environment in which they could acquire
desirable traits of character and cultivate their innate faculties.

He had allowed his monastic idealism to influence his thinking on
this issue to such an extent that he would not consider it for a moment
from the practical standpoint. He was inclined to think that the knowledge
acquired by girls and boys from books placed perforce in their hands
'obscured — if, indeed, it did not destroy — the capacity to perceive the

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

inner vision.' When Mrs. Polak reasoned that the cultivation of any faculty
possessed by a person should help him to come to a fuller comprehension of
the Divine, Gandhi's response was: 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, you
are told, and also that the Kingdom of God is within you. Why, then, cover
Him up by extraneous thoughts and things?... You have no need to go to
books to find God, you can find Him within yourself.'

Gandhi's eldest son Harilal (about eighteen in 1 906) was still in India.
The youngest one, Devdas, was hardly six and his education was not yet a
serious problem. The other two, Manilal and Ramdas, fourteen and nine
respectively, were in need of good schooling which Gandhi's bias in favour
of informal tuition at home had ruled out. Living in a bungalow separated
from his place of work by a good five miles, he would often get the two boys
to walk with him to the office and back home. Gandhi liked it as a useful
exercise for them. On the way, he would try to teach them through the
medium of conversation.

Gandhi did not want his children to think and talk in English from
their early days. He made it a point to teach them whatever he had to in
Gujarati so that they were not deprived of the social and spiritual heritage of
their motherland. But the instruction he was able to impart was so little that
it could not have gone very far. Looking back at this problem after some
years, Gandhi says that if he had been able to devote at least one hour
regularly to his sons' coaching, he could have imparted to them an ideal
education. Whatever be the validity of this claim, it gives an idea of the
handicaps the boys had been put to.

The year 1 906 was in many ways a watershed in Gandhi's life. He had
enough income from his law practice. He had a comfortable home in
Johannesburg where he could live the way he liked. Whenever he wished, he
could take refuge in Phoenix which was like a small social laboratory. There
he was able to try out his ideas about the idyllic village life. He had acquired
eminence among his countrymen in Natal and the Transvaal which offered
him enough scope for fulfilling his urge for public work. Yet he was troubled
by an inner turmoil which did not allow him to steadily cruise along the course
his life had taken. Many a time he thought of giving up his legal profession
and spending the rest of his life at Phoenix, doing manual work for subsistence,
editing Indian Opinion and serving the people around him.

He was thirty-seven at the time he pledged himself to a life of
celibacy, the Sanskrit word for which is brahmacharya, meaning search
after the Brahma or God. Gandhi had thus embarked on a new venture.
What motivated him to take this course is not easy to define. Directly it
signified turning away from the normal earthly existence to be able to
make a more earnest effort for self-realisation. It was also a preparation
for greater devotion to public work.

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347

Before this radical change in his outlook, Gandhi had always intensely
felt that his family had staked whatever it possessed on his education in
England. At that time Lakshmidas had worked hard, even at the cost of his
health, and had ungrudgingly sent him as much money as he asked for.
Gandhi had no hesitation in acknowledging that it was an act of great
magnanimity on his brother's part. This consideration had impelled Gandhi in
the early years of his professional life to earn as much money as he could,
within the limits dictated by his high ethical norms, and recompense
Lakshmidas adequately to make him forget the hardships he had undergone
for him. He had remitted back home all his savings during the period he was
in Natal. Not only had he cleared the debt of Rs. 13,000 incurred for his
education in England, he had in addition paid nearly Rs.60,000 to the joint
family account. While doing so, which he thought was his duty, Gandhi did
not carry the slightest feeling that he had put his brothers under an obligation.

Lakshmidas himself had not been doing too badly in his practice of
law but due to his lavish spending, he was always hard up. Pointing it out to
Lakshmidas in his letter of April 20, 1907, Gandhi wrote: 'I must say with
deep sorrow that, on account of your extravagant and thoughtless way of life,
you have squandered a lot of money on pleasures and on pomp and show.'
Lakshmidas had earlier asked for a remittance of Rs.1 00 per month. Gandhi
told him frankly that he had neither the means to meet this demand nor did
he see 'the need of meeting it.' He also made it clear that he spent very little
on himself and his family, and the rest of his income was used for the benefit
of people he sought to serve: 'I am not the master of my earnings, since I
have dedicated my all to the people. I do not suffer from the illusion that it is
I who earn; I simply believe that God gives me the money for making good
use of it.' The long letter from which small excerpts have been quoted is a
testimony of the great change Gandhi had gone through and the way it had
soured the relationship between him and Lakshmidas. It was his earnest
desire that his brother should somehow grasp the spirit in which he was
writing to him: 'I revere you as you are my elder brother. Our religion bids us
treat the elders with veneration. I implicitly believe in that injunction. But I
have greater regard for truth. This too is taught by our religion ... Formerly,
there was no difference of opinion or misunderstanding between us, hence
you had affection for me. Now you have turned away from me because my
views have changed ... Since you consider this change has been for the
worse, I can quite understand that some of my answers will not be acceptable
to you. But as the change in my ideas is due to my pursuit of truth, I am quite
helpless. My devotion to you remains the same as before; it has simply
assumed a new form ...'

Gandhi's relationship with his second brother Karsandas, only three years
senior to him, was from the very beginning on a different plane. Close to

348

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

each other during their school days, they were at times involved in unseemly
affairs under the influence of their common friend Sheikh Mehtab. As they
grew up, life unfolded itself to the two brothers differently. At the time
Lakshmidas was pressing the youngest brother in South Africa for financial
assistance to the family, Karsandas was living indigently with his modest
means as a junior police official. The latter, temperamentally a very affectionate
person, had not lost his fondness for Mohandas.

Their widowed sister, Raliatbehn, who was the eldest in the family,
had preferred to live with Karsandas. Of course, she was getting a regular
maintenance allowance from Mohandas. He considered it his responsibility
to support her and never tried to palm it off to his brothers. With the
circumstances in which he was placed having undergone a change, he
had to request his sister in July 1905 to reduce her expenses and limit
them to about Rs. 20 to 25 per month. Her only son Gokuldas had lived
with Gandhi for about five years in Natal. He too had missed his schooling
during that period. On his return to India, the loving mother's darling boy
slowly drifted into a life of ease. Gandhi felt that the boy had gone astray
because of the unhealthy environment at home. He also did not approve of
his early marriage which took place around the middle of 1907. A year
later Gokuldas died. Reflecting on it, he remarked: ’Out of a false sense
of prestige or mistaken notions of affection, we think of marrying off our
boys and girls at a very early age. We spend a lot of money doing so and
then look ... sadly at the young widows.'

The distress Gandhi suffered because of waywardness on the part of
Harilai, his eldest son, was too heartbreaking an experience even for a person
steeped in the teachings of Bhagavad Gita. Up to the age of thirteen Harilai
had had very little formal education. It was only after Gandhi returned with his
family from South Africa towards the close of 1 901 that Harilai was put into a
school. For some years his education was taken care of by Haridasbhai
Vora, a close friend and adviser of the Gandhi family. Sometime in 1903
Harilai, who was at that time with his aunt Raliatbehn, was taken seriously
ill. When Haridasbhai, who played the role of guardian, learnt about it he
shifted the boy to his own house and looked after him with great care. He had
in mind his second daughter Gulab (nicknamed Chanchal or Chanchi) who
would one day go to the Gandhi family as a bride. He, therefore, looked upon
Harilai as his prospective son-in-law. All this was based on an informal
understanding reached between the two families much earlier. The young
Hari, who was also aware of this fact, could not shut his eyes to the tenderness
with which he was looked after during his sickness. As soon as he regained
health, his thoughts turned to Chanchal who was to be his partner in life in
due course.

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349

In early 1 906, there was some talk that Harilal had already married
Chanchal. It is not dear in what form Gandhi got the information. What he
wrote about it in his letter of May 27, 1 906 to Lakshmidas shows how upset
he was: 'It is well if Harilal is married; it is also well if he is not. For the
present, at any rate, I have ceased to think of him as a son.' Howsoever
painful the situation was, Gandhi could have been more circumspect in
expressing his dissatisfaction.

When Harilal's marriage with Chanchal did take place and Gandhi
was informed about it, he did not extend his blessings. He had been persuading
Hari for a long time, to come over to South Africa. Even now he wanted him to
reach there alone. He had probably made up his mind to serve his son right
by forcing him to remain away from Chanchai for some years. At his father's
behest, Harilal undertook a passage to South Africa in the latter part of 1 906,
leaving his wife behind.

For a short period Harilal stayed in Johannesburg, giving a helping
hand to his father. He was still keen for further education. In India he had not
been able to clear his matriculation examination, but on this account he had
not lost his desire for higher studies. Gandhi's thinking on this subject had
not undergone any change. After some time Harilal moved to Phoenix and he
was assigned certain duties connected with Indian Opinion. He was required
to work under Chhaganlal's guidance. The latter was also to act as a teacher.
Gandhi had specially asked him to be careful about the way he looked after
Harilal's education.

Initially, it was not easy for Hari to accustom himself to the rigours
of life at the farm. With the passage of time he did straighten out to
some extent. Taking note of it, Gandhi gradually came to terms with
Hari's marriage and decided to have Chanchal join the family in Phoenix.
Having failed to find suitable company for Chanchal's voyage, they
commissioned Harilal to take a short trip to India to fetch his wife. It
was a great day for Kasturba when she welcomed the couple to her
small house in Phoenix. A few months later Chanchal gave birth to a
daughter who was named Rami.

In the meantime the passive resistance movement had been launched
in the Transvaal and Gandhi had his first term of imprisonment in January
1908. In the second round of the struggle Harilal also offered himself for
satyagraha, went across to Johannesburg and joined the band of well-to-do
Indians who had turned hawkers to court imprisonment by selling goods
without license. He was first arrested on July 27, 1 908 and after trial the next
day fined £1 or seven days in jail with hard labour. Naturally he elected to go
to prison. After expiry of this term, followed a sequence of attempts on the
Government's part to drive Harilal out of the Transvaal, with theyoungman re¬
entering the Colony brazenly and taking up unlicensed hawking. On September
1 8 he went to jail for his second term of one month.

Harilal's heroic role was a matter of great pride to the Gandhi family. His
youngest brother Devdas, who was only eight then, reminisced later in life

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

what a sight it was when the tall and handsome Hari left Phoenix to take
active part in the resistance movement. Gandhi received enquiries from various
quarters as to why he had encouraged his son to go to jail. To his friends, he
explained: ’I have advised every Indian to take up hawking. I am afraid I cannot
join myself since S am enrolled as an attorney. I, therefore, thought it right to
advise my son to make his rounds as a hawker. I hesitate to ask others to do
things which I cannot do myself. I think whatever my son does at my instance
can be taken to have been done by me.' According to Gandhi, going to jail for
the sake of the country was a part of Harilal's education. The latter, even
while keeping step with the most earnest satyagrahis, nurtured deep inside
his heart a desire for formal education as a barrister. But he did not allow it to
come in the way of his immediate duty as a part of the struggle launched by
the Indian community.

In the second week of February 1909, Hari was awarded the long
term of six months. For some time both he and his father were in the
same jail. Harilal had acquitted himself so well that Gandhi relented as far
as the boy's early marriage was concerned and accepted Chanchal as
an honoured member of the family. But he was anxious to shape her life
as well as that of Harilal according to his own thinking. He wanted them to
give up the idea of staying together for the present. Harilal, in any case,
had to be in Johannesburg so long as the struggle lasted. Gandhi expected
Chanchal to play a leading role in looking after the household and he
briefed her about it with his characteristic thoroughness. No wonder, the
medical man in him had taken charge of his daughter-in-law's health. An
excerpt from his letter of February 26, written to Chanchal from Volksrust
prison: The change that I made in your diet is to be adhered to as an order
from me. Take sago and milk regularly. Feed Rami at the breast ... Take
sufficient food after feeding her... Your health will not improve so long as
you do not get open air.'

A few weeks after his release in August 1909, Harilal went in for
another prison term of six months from November 1 , 1 909 to April 30, 1 91 0,
followed by two more of three months each, the last one ending on January
9, 1 91 1 . He had shown what metal he was made of. The people had started
referring to him as Gandhi Jr. His father had every reason to feel proud of him:
'It seems ... that this time Harilal faced gaol life exceedingly well. It was he
who first started fasting; he was joined by others later ... Shelat is loud in his
praises and so is Pragji Desai. He (Harilal) seems to have surpassed me.
This is as it should be.'

If in his teens there was something wanting in him, now at the age
of 22-23 Harilal was mature enough to be treated as an adult capable of
planning his own life. But Gandhi was not inclined to think on these lines.
Around June 1 91 0, when he learnt that Chanchal was again in the family
way, he decided that she would go to India along with her little daughter.
Harilal was in jail when he expressed the wish that he would like to escort
his family to India. Gandhi's reaction was typical: 'Harilal cannot go to

UNTO HIS FAMii_Y

351

India... We are poor and cannot spend money like that. Moreover, a man
who has joined the struggle cannot thus go away for three months. There
would be nothing wrong if Chanchi goes to India in some good company.
Many poor women do so.' Harilal was humble enough to take the snub in
good grace and continue giving wholehearted attention to his obligations
as a satyagrahi.

Soon after he was free from his duties connected with satyagraha,
he began to feel an emptiness more gnawing than he had ever known
before. What troubled him again was lack of proper education.
Dissatisfaction on that score gradually turned into resentment against
his father which found expression in many devious ways. Gandhi could
now see the problem quite clearly but had no concrete help to offer. He
was, however, anxious that the youngman should not feel depressed on
this account. Early in March 1911 he wrote to him: There is nothing to
be ashamed of in your being weak in mathematics and general literary
education. You could have learnt them, had I given you the necessary
opportunity. The practical knowledge boys in India possess is not due
to the education they receive in schools, but is the result of the unique
Indian way of life. It is because of the meritorious deeds of our ancestors
that we find healthy standards of behaviour, thrift, etc., around us, in
spite of the repeated inroads of modern education, the immorality that
we see among the people and their growing selfishness. This I am writing
to you to give you courage and ask you to go deeper into the matter and
observe things for yourself, it is not right to attribute the relation of cause
and effect between things after just a superficial glance.' These words
from Gandhi could have comforted Harilal as little as his assurance: 'I
will not stand in the way of your studies or other ambitions that you may
have, provided there is nothing positively immoral about them. You may
therefore cast off all fear and pursue your studies as long as you like. I
may not like some of your views, but having no suspicion about your
character I do not have any anxiety on your account.'

*★*

Chhaganlal and Maganlal, both of them sons of Gandhi's second cousin
Khushalchand, had come to South Africa at his instance. In course of time
they came in close association with him and played a vital part in setting up
the Phoenix Farm and organizing the publication of Indian Opinion. In Gandhi's
estimation they were among those few persons who had with complete
sincerity tried to imbibe and practise the ideals he had set for himself.

In the latter half of 1909, when Gandhi was in London, his friend Dr.
Pranjivan Mehta had also come there from Burma to arrange for his son's
education. Having known how badly Gandhi had neglected this aspect of
his sons' upbringing, Dr. Mehta expressed the desire that he would like

352

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

to take care of at least one of the boys. He had this in mind when he
offered a scholarship for the education of one Phoenixite in England.
Gandhi did not entertain the proposal in the form Dr. Mehta had made it.
He, however, expressed his willingness to accept the offer to be used for
the best person in Phoenix, adding that he would not hesitate to send
Manilal to England if he considered him to be most suitable for the purpose.
Harilal was nowhere in the picture even for such consideration. Before
long Gandhi had settled with Dr. Mehta that Chhaganlal or Maganlal would
be given the scholarship in question. Ultimately it was Chhaganlal who
went to England towards the middle of 1910. After his departure from
South Africa, Maganlal assumed a more active role in the day-to-day affairs
at the farm. With one brother having towered over everyone around and
the other ruling the roost at Phoenix, Kasturba and her two elder sons
naturally felt hurt if there was the slightest show of an overbearing attitude
on Maganlal's part or anyone else having his support.

Matters of this type had no meaning for Gandhi who, having
transcended the bounds of 'mine' and 'thine' looked at every inmate as a
member of his family. In any case, Maganlal kept him informed of whatever
happened at the farm. On March 19, 1911 , Gandhi wrote to Maganlal:
The more defects you discover in Harilal, the more love you should have
for him. One requires a great deal of water to put out a big fire. To
overcome the baser element in Harilal's nature, you have to develop in
yourself and pit against it a more powerful force of goodness. Give him
the coat too when he asks for a shirt.'

About this time, Gandhi had decided to transfer the Phoenix farm,
together with the machinery and other assets belonging to Indian Opinion , all
valued at £5,000, to a trust exclusively committed to public purposes. There
is no indication that Gandhi had any kind of consultation with Kasturba and
his sons before taking this decision.

Harilal's mind was in a state of turmoil. He had proved to his father's
satisfaction that he was not averse to making sacrifices for a good cause. But
he also had to consider how he was going to look after his family. In the second
week of February, Chanchal had given birth to the second child, a son who was
named Kantilal. Anxiety on Harilal's part about his obligation to provide a
reasonable life to his wife and children was quite natural. He thought that the
education he had received had not equipped him to discharge this responsibility.
He had before him the case of Joseph Royeppen, born in Natal in a family of
indentured labourers, who had received first-class education in England. He
also distinguished himself as a satyagrahi, but he could any time settle down
to the legal profession. Harilal was as ambitious but equally conscious of the
fact that it was extremely difficult to go in for good education at the age he had
reached. This inner conflict was not easy to resolve. The resultant bewilderment
could not be contained too long. He had been reading a Gujarati novel in
which the hero had bid farewell to his home, leaving behind a long, romantic
letter explaining why he was going away. Harilal wrote a similar letter

UNTO HIS FAMILY

353

stating that he had reached the end of his patience and he would now go his
own way. After posting this letter, he suddenly left Johannesburg with twenty
pounds borrowed from someone, and a few of his belongings, including a
photograph of his father.

The inevitable had at last happened. The only person who had known
about it beforehand was Royeppen. All those close to Harilal and Gandhi
held the latter answerable for what had come to pass. Many Muslim merchants
reproached him for not having sent the boy to England for further studies,
saying that they would have paid all the expenses.

At this time Kasturba was also at the Tolstoy Farm. The day Harilal
vanished, life had come to a halt as far as his mother was concerned.

Three days later Gandhi learnt that Harilal had gone to Delagoa
Bay and was making arrangements for his return to India. Kallenbach at
once proceeded to that place, brought him back on the morning of May
1 5. In the evening that day, there was a long talk between the father and
the son at Tolstoy Farm. Walking across the fields for hours during the
night, they discussed everything threadbare. Harilal made it clear that he
had no grudge against Chhaganlal, Maganlal or anyone else. He reiterated
that he was not interested in going to England at Dr. Pranjivan Mehta's
expense and binding himself to all kinds of undertakings. He assured his
father that he was not at all resentful of the Phoenix establishment having
been turned into a public trust. In saying all this, it is possible that Harilal
was being honest and not concealing his conscious thoughts. To what
extent these factors had influenced his subconscious mind would have
been difficult for Gandhi to judge. But the youngman was decidedly very
angry with his father. Without being discourteous, he gave vent to all his
pent-up feelings. Reporting to Maganlal about it, Gandhi wrote on May
18,1911: 'He feels that I have kept all the four boys very much suppressed,
that I did not respect their wishes at any time, that I have treated them of
no account, and that I have often been hard-hearted ... Unlike otherfathers,

I have not admired my sons or done anything specially for them, but
always put them and Ba last

After Harilal had let off steam, he looked more at peace. At this stage
Gandhi tried to explain to him with what care he had gone about building up
his sons' character and preparing them for a life based on certain ideals. His
reasoning had little effect on Harilal. He was determined to follow the course
he had chalked out and make whatever effort he could to equip himself with
some education to which his father could have no objection. Their night-long
argument concluded with an understanding that Harilal would go back to
India and pursue his studies at Ahmedabad.

Harilal left Johannesburg on May 17, 1911, Gandhi was among the
persons who were at the railway station to see him off. Just before the train
was about to steam off, Gandhi spoke to his departing son in a choked voice:
'If you feel your father has done you some wrong, please excuse him.' As the
train started there were many eyes struggling to hold back tears.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

So Harilal had set out for India. On the way, the Indian community at
Zanzibar honoured him as a far-famed satyagrahi. Gandhi felt pleased and
wrote about it in Indian Opinion.

On arrival in India Harilal joined a High School at Ahmedabad. At his
age it was difficult for him to adjust himself as a student among young
teenagers. He had been keen about studying Sanskrit. In course of time he
lost interest in the subject and took up French instead, which again did not
please Gandhi. While advising him to go back to Sanskrit, he was not
uncompromisingly insistent. Gandhi's attitude had thawed and he counselled
more like a friend. But it was too late. The way Harilal was approaching his
adult life was fraught with doom.

***

Gandhi's second son Manilal, about four years junior to Hari, was
also unhappy about lack of systematic schooling. The only difference was
that in his case there was greater continuity in his exposure to the kind of
training Gandhi considered good for self-cultivation and conditioning for public
service. Consequently, he was not torn by any inner conflict that was too
severe to be resolved.

Manilal was among those who were the first to join the school
improvised at Phoenix. He was only fifteen when Gandhi particularly sent to
him a copy of Ramayana from Johannesburg. He was required to devise his
own method of studying the epic.

After Harilal was drawn into the satyagraha struggle, with Kasturba
keeping indifferent health, Manilal had to share with Harilal's wife the burden of
running the household. Both of them were required to sign the letters written to
Gandhi while he was in jail. As a prisoner at Pretoria he was allowed to receive
and write one letter a month. He chose to address his first monthly letter dated
March 25,1909 to Manilal, inserting into it something or the other for almost
everyone else. A good part of it was a bunch of injunctions for Manilal. In his
lessons he was to pay maximum attention to mathematics and Sanskrit. Music
was not to be neglected. He was to write hymns and verses very carefully in a
special notebook. He was to maintain a careful account of the household
expenditure. Above all, he was to imbibe the ideals oibrahmacharya. Amusement
was justified during the age of innocence, i.e., up to twelve years only. As soon
as a boy reached the age of discretion, he was expected to realise his
responsibility. This was the time when it was necessary for him to practise
truth, non-violence and continence in thought and deed: 'If you practise the
three virtues, if they become part of your life, so far as I am concerned, you will
have completed your education ... Armed with them, believe me, you will earn
your bread in any part of the world and you will have paved the way to acquire
a true knowledge of the soul, yourself and the God. This does not mean that
you should not receive instruction in letters. That you should and you are
doing. But it is a thing over which you need not fret yourself.' Referring to the

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355

Upanishads and the works of Emerson, Ruskin and Mazzini read by him in
the prison, he assured Manilal that education did not mean knowledge of
letters and that its essence lay in character-building. Elaborating this idea
he went on to say: 'What can be better than that you should have the
opportunity of nursing mother and cheerfully bearing her ill temper, or than
looking after Chanchi and anticipating her wants ... or, again, than being
guardian to Ramdas and Devdas? If you succeed in doing this well, you
have received more than half your education.'

Gandhi addressed the next monthly letter to Henry Polak. His second
son's education was still on his mind. On that issue he wrote: 'Manilal is ...
somewhat dissatisfied with his studies. But it is inevitable. We are in the
experimental stage and the first students have to be the victims. However, let
him learn well what is given to him ... Let him cultivate regular and studious
habits, and learn to rely on himseif in his studies. One of these days I may be
able to undertake part of his tuition myself.'

Later in August 1 909 when Gandhi, during the period of his deputation
to London, was considering Dr. Pranjivan Mehta's offer of a scholarship for a
Phoenixite to study in England, he wrote to Manilal: 'I am glad you have given
up worrying [about your studies]. The more I observe things here, the more I
feel that there is no reason to believe that this place is particularly suited for
any type of better education. I also see that some of the education imparted
here is faulty. However, there is a constant desire in my mind that each of you
should be able to come and stay here for a while at least. If we go on doing our
duty properly, we need not worry about the future. Your studying there earnestly
would be your preparation for coming here.' It is quite clear that Gandhi was
well aware of Manilal's aspirations. What he had written to him could not have
given the boy more than cold comfort. He promptly wrote back to his father
who responded with another short sermon: 'I shall consider myself fortunate if
your mind is perfectly quiet, if you are thoroughly absorbed in your work and if
you are doing your studies without any distractions. I do not think it necessary
for you to come to this country in a hurry. People here appear to be very
degenerate. We shall talk more about it when we meet.'

Manilal was mindful enough as far as his immediate duties were
con-cerned. For example when Albert West fell ill about this time, the boy
was absolutely sedulous in looking after him. When Gandhi learnt about it
he felt so proud that he thanked God that he had such a son and wrote to
him: 'I wish you remain such for ever. To do good to others and serve them
without any sense of egoism — this is real education. You will realise this
more and more as you grow up. What better way of life can there be than
serving the sick?' Despite all that his father was telling him, Manilal remained
anxious for his future and continued to express concern regarding
deficiencies in his education.

Towards the end of 1 909, when Harilal was already undergoing his
six months' term of imprisonment, Gandhi made up his mind to allow Manilal
also, about 18 at this time, to jump into the fray. For one thing, the boy

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

was insistent. Gandhi himself was of the view that going to jail in the service
of one's motherland was the truest kind of education. Having crossed over
to the Transvaal with others, soon Manilal was among the unlicensed
hawkers who went from house to house at Johannesburg to sell fruit and
vegetables. He was arrested on January 14, 1910. After a short term in
prison he was deported. When he recrossed into the Transvaal he was
consigned to jail for three months with hard labour. He acquitted himself
extremely well as a prisoner. After his release in the last week of May 1910,
he was at the Tolstoy Farm for some time doing hard manual work at the
pioneering stage whereafter he returned to Phoenix.

By early 1 91 2, Manila! was no more the kind of disciplined youngman
Gandhi wanted him to be. Particularly the style in which he dressed himself
was not to his father's liking. On one occasion he wrote to him: 'I saw your
photograph. Your out-and-out English dress is not of a kind to please me.
Even the collar starched? Certainly, you must have clean dress. But it does
not go with our way of living to dress like a fastidious Englishman.' Manilal
was at this time passing through a spell of emotional disquiet. The frequent
sermons he got from his father were proving futile.

The education received by the other two sons, Ramdas and Devdas,
who were hardly nine and six respectively, when the family shifted to Phoenix,
could not be any better. Exposed to a particular kind of life from the early
years, unlike their elder brothers they never felt troubled by the urge for higher
education. But the chilling pressure of relentless austerity had the same effect
on these young boys as inclement weather would have on tender buds. During
his return voyage from England to South Africa in November 1 909 Gandhi wrote
in a short letter to Ramdas: 'Do not be angry with me if I have not brought
anything for you. There was nothing I liked. What could I do if nothing European
appealed to me? I like everything Indian. The people of Europe are good, but
their way of life is not good.'

To be the sons of the future Mahatma was of no advantage to the
boys. To assimilate and practise the ideas he constantly dinned into them
could not always have been painless, intellectually as well as emotionally.
In some measure it may even have been injurious to their development.
When the Tolstoy Farm came into being and the boys along with Kasturba
spent a part of the time there, they had to attune themselves to a pattern
of life altogether out of this world. On August 21 , addressing Maganlal,
Gandhi wrote: 'My way of life has completely changed here. The whole
day is spent in digging the land and other manual labour instead of in
writing and explaining things to people. I prefer this work and consider
this alone to be my duty. Ramdas dug a pit, 3 feet broad and 3 feet deep,
and half of another, working till one o'clock today. If he continues to work
like this he will be a very good boy. Now I do not see him engrossed in

UNTO HIS FAMILY

357

thought as he used to be in Phoenix.' Gandhi may have been right to an
extent: but there was also something amiss.

***

Kasturba, for her own part, had gradually adjusted herself to Gandhi's
way of life. Of course, she did not like many of his ways. But she had a trait
of character which over the years brought a degree of harmony to their married
life, and Gandhi valued it: '... she is blessed with one great quality ... which
most Hindu wives possess ... willingly or unwillingly, consciously or
unconsciously, she has considered herself blessed in following in my footsteps,
and has never stood in the way of my endeavour to lead a life of restraint.' But
she could not have been satisfied to see her sons approaching their manhood
without being fully equipped to meet the demands of life. Like any other
mother she desired that her sons should receive the best of education and do
well in life. Nothing frustrated her more than Gandhi's imperviousness to
sound advice from other quarters. Her reaction at one time was: 'What does
he think? Does he want to keep the boys illiterate? Does he want them to go
about in a loin-cloth? Does he want to reduce them to paupers?' This problem
had become more of a nightmare to her after Gandhi stopped his legal practice
and gave up an independent source of income.

With this unending anxiety about the boys' future tormenting her,
Kasturba could not help adding to her mental tension which expressed
itself in various forms. Gandhi would sometimes feel exasperated. In one
of his letters to Harilal he wrote: The fact is that Ba does not know her
own mind. However, I have nothing to say against your pleading for her.'
What made things worse was the overpronounced faith that Gandhi reposed
in Chhaganlal and Maganlal. Though his wife and the children did not
make an issue of it, their resentment on this account could not remain
hidden. The matter came to a head about the time Harilal staged an open
revolt. On May 15, 1911, Gandhi wrote to Maganlal: 'Many persons have
been agitated in their minds by the Harilal episode. I can well understand
the varied feelings surging within you. Please consider this: If Harilal's or
Manilal's or Ba's being unhappy with you, or their bitter words, make you
think of leaving me, you will be behaving as one separate from us and I
shall find it difficult to do my duty to them and to you.'

It was part of Gandhi's character to direct his own life strictly according
to ideals not certainly meant for ordinary mortals. He could not help applying
them with equal rigour to his wife and sons. Kasturba had the strength to
withstand it and even benefit from that part of his influence which
harmonised with her personality. For the boys the situation was inherently
difficult. Being Gandhi's sons would have benefited them if initially they
had had at least a semblance of normal upbringing and education and had
later had the freedom to accept his way of life voluntarily. When he

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

thought of allowing them the autonomy they should have been entitled to, it
was too late.

Whether he was right or wrong in rearing his children the way he did,
the matter continued to trouble him for long. With his own conscience and
with many of his friends who had assailed him about it, he would argue that
he had done his duty towards his sons to the best of his capacity. What is
more important, he had deliberately desisted from giving them the education
with which he thought there was something seriously wrong. According to
him, not only would it have been detrimental to them, the 'artificial ways of
living' they would have thus acquired might have been a serious handicap in
his own public work. The only one among them about whom he had felt
worried was Harilal. For what happened in his case, he had his own
explanation: 'I have always felt that the undesirable traits I see today in my
eldest son are an echo of my own undisciplined and unformulated early life.

I regard that time as a period of half-baked knowledge andjndulgence. It
coincided with the most impressionable years of my eldest son...' Gandhi
was conscious of the fact that Harilal on his part considered that as the
brightest period of his father's life, and the changes effected later, had been
due to 'delusion, miscalled enlightenment.'

THE GOKHALE VISIT

Gandhi was keeping Gopal Krishna Gokhale informed of all important
happenings. It had been his wish that the latter should pay a visit to South
Africa and see things for himself. When he wrote to Gokhale about it from
London on November 11 , 1909, it was in view of the deep bitterness he had
noticed among many of his countrymen in England against Gokhale's
constitutionalism. He was anxious that his rajguru should get acquainted
with the potentialities of passive resistance as a political weapon and, if
possible, even join the Transvaal Indian campaign. A good measure of material
help from India was the first fruit borne by such pleadings on Gandhi's part
to which Henry Polak's exertions, when he went round the country, had
added considerable weight.

One side effect of the intensive publicity that the South African
Indians' problem received during these years and the earnestness with
which Gokhale associated himself with it was that Gandhi's name had
come very much into the limelight. In September 1911, Satyananda Basu
of Bengal enquired from Gokhale if Gandhi could be invited to preside over
the Congress session to be held at Calcutta in December that year. Gokhale
expressed the view that Gandhi should be consulted before his name was
proposed. The Secretary, Bengal Provincial Congress Committee,
thereupon, addressed a loosely worded cablegram to the Natal Indian
Congress, giving an impression that Gandhi was being invited to preside
over the Congress session though in fact it was only an enquiry to know
whether the Natal Congress could spare him for the purpose. The person
who sent the cable did not even know that Gandhi at this time had more to do
with the Transvaal British Indian Association than with the Natal Congress.
The Indian leaders at Durban were so elated at this unique honour and
such was their pressure on Gandhi that, without carefully considering all ins
and outs, he allowed the Natal Congress to accept on his behalf what
looked like an invitation. The over-enthusiastic people at Durban even
authorized Reuter to flash the news.

At the other end, there were very few Congressmen prepared to
support Gandhi's candidature. He was admired by many, but his
radicalism was anathema to most Moderates. Gokhale, his greatest
benefactor, was not sure whether he could at all attune himself to Congress
politics. Nevertheless, he personally would have been happy if Gandhi could
be elected President but it was just not possible. Even the Bengal Congress

360

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Committee had withdrawn its support to him. Gokhale was now worried
that if there was a contest and Gandhi was defeated, it would be detrimental
to the cause for which he was fighting in South Africa. To extricate him from
this muddle, Gokhale advised the General Secretary of the Indian National
Congress to exclude Gandhi's name on the ground that he would not be able to
come to India even if he was elected. Between them, Gokhaleand Gandhi unreservedly
explained to each other how the whole confusion had been caused and there
was no question of any misunderstanding. On the other hand, this was the
beginning of a still more cordial relationship between them.

In December 1911, Gandhi renewed his invitation to Gokhale for an
early visit to South Africa. The latter was then a member of the Central
Legislative Council. It so happened that in pursuit of his proposals for
educational reform he had to plan for a passage to England sometime
in 1 912. He decided to combine with it a short visit to the 'blunderland'
of racism. Gandhi felt exceedingly happy when he learnt about it. His
immediate reaction was that Gokhale should come to South Africa on
his way to England so that after having studied the problem first hand he
could do something about it in London. Gokhale's own idea was to meet his
commitment with Gandhi on his return journey from England. When he was
in London he conferred with Lord Crewe, Secretary of State for India, about
his South Africa programme. Some initial uneasiness notwithstanding, the
Imperial Government ultimately felt that the proposed visit might do some
good. While advising the Union Government about it, the Colonial Office had
taken care to indicate Gokhale's prominent position in Indian politics
and hence the need for iooking after him well.

Gokhale had a 'foretaste of what South Africa was like' before he left
the shores of England. He was to sail by s.s. Saxon from Southampton on 5
October. Already in delicate health, he wanted to have a quiet and comfortable
voyage. The Union Castle Company, owning the ship, expressed its inability
to book a berth in his name unless he was prepared to pay for the exclusive
use of a cabin as no whiteman was likely to share one with him. That meant
payment often guineas*extra over and above the charge for a berth. Gokhale
had travelled between England and India a number of times but had never
been confronted with a problem like this. It was not the extra money demanded
that he felt sore about: what he resented was the humiliation involved. India
Office, somehow, came to know what had transpired. With their intervention
the best cabin on the boat was placed at Gokhale's disposal. The incident,
however, left its mark on his mind.

He landed at Cape Town on October 22, 1 91 2. Among those who
received him was an official of the Immigration Department. He had come
with instructions to assist Gokhale throughout the period he was in South
Africa. He delivered to him a letter of welcome from the Union Minister of
Interior. His arrival was a great event for the Indian community. Sitting in a
stately vehicle drawn by four horses at the head of fifty carriages, he was
greeted along the route by his countrymen with shouts of Bande Mataram.

THE GOKHALE VISIT

361

A reception was then held in the Town Hall, with the Lord Mayor in the chair.
The hall was packed to capacity and the participants included a good number
of Europeans. Dr. Abdurrahman and other important leaders occupied seats
on the platform. W.P.Schreiner, known for his interest in the well-being of
non-whites in the Cape, was the principal speaker at the meeting. Various
Indian organizations vied with one another for presenting ceremonial
addresses to their illustrious countryman. Gandhi's own speech was
noteworthy for its word of caution against the tendency to expect that
'Gokhale's visit would act as a charm, and that all their disabilities would
disappear.' According to him, 'Gokhale was certainly going to assist them,
.but... there was nothing so valuable as self-help.' Gokhale too was on his
guard not to commit himself to any particular standpoint before he had
studied the problem from all angles. Gandhi describes his speech as
'concise, full of sound judgment, firm but courteous, which pleased the
Indians and fascinated the Europeans.'

The programme that Gandhi had laid for Gokhale was so packed
with rail journeys, rituals, meetings and interviews that he could not
withstand the strain involved. Suffering from diabetes and living on a
regulated diet, he needed plenty of rest. Having realised the mistake,
Gandhi tried to prune down the engagements: even then it was a very
strenuous schedule. In other respects, he spared no effort to ensure
that Gokhale felt at ease. Throughout the period Gandhi himself acted
as his secretary, with Kallenbach always by his side to help him. The
Union Government had taken care to place a railway saloon at his
disposal so that he could travel in comfort.

The warm welcome at Cape Town was followed by a visit to Kimberley
and Beaconsfield, involvingelaborate functions at a number of points. The
party finally reached Johannesburg on the afternoon of October 28. In the
golden city, the train was received at Park Station where a huge crowd of
Indians was waiting to greet him. With rose petals being showered on
him, accompanied by Gandhi he Stepped on to a richly decorated and
carpeted platform. The Mayor of Johannesburg, accompanied by his wife,
was also there to welcome him. The address presented by the British
Indian Association, remembering too well what help it had received from
this great Indian at its hour of dire need, was engraved on a solid gold
plate representing a map of India with gold tablets on either side illustrating
typical Indian motifs. Immediately thereafter, other Societies representing
special interests within the Indian community similarly waited on the visiting
dignitary. He was then taken to Kallenbach's elegant hill-top house, about
five miles away from the city centre.

A spacious office in the prestigious Chudleigh's Buildings had been
hired for Gokhale's use.There he could conveniently receive all those who wanted
to meet him: among them were some very important persons from various
fields of life. He also called on some of them. An exclusive meeting of leading
Europeans was arranged so that he could understand their viewpoint.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

A banquet was held in his honour at the Masonic Hall by the British
Indian Association on October 31 . Out of about 500 persons who attended it,
not less than 150 were Europeans including Mayor Ellis. The food served
was rich in variety but purely vegetarian: there were no alcoholic drinks either.
The cooking and waiting was all done by volunteers. When Gokhale rose
to respond to the toast proposed by Gandhi, he delivered a speech remarkable
for its clarity, firmness and urbanity. He had, no doubt, taken great pains to
prepare it. He had asked Gandhi to give him a written brief which was not to
omit a single point of significance. Based on the material furnished to him
and the ideas he had formulated during the few days spent by him in the
country, he presented to the audience a general exposition of the problem of
Indians in South Africa which was not only thorough but also completely free
from overstatement, ambiguity or prejudice.

There were numerous other functions: the reception given by the
Chinese Association had special significance. A mass meeting was also
held to enable Gokhale to have a direct feel of the common Indian settlers.
Gandhi was anxious that on this occasion Gokhale should address the
gathering in Hindustani. There were several Konkanis and some
Maharashtrians among the audience who were eager to hear Gokhale speak
in their mother tongue. On the strength of their request, Gandhi proposed to
Gokhale to deliver his speech in Marathi which he himself offered to translate
in Hindustani. Hearing this, Gokhale burst into laughter and remarked: 'I have
quite fathomed your knowledge of Hindustani, an accomplishment upon which
you cannot exactly be congratulated. But now you propose to translate Marathi
into Hindustani. May I know, where you acquired such profound knowledge of
Marathi?' Gandhi replied spontaneously that he knew just enough of Marathi
to grasp the purport of his speech on a subject with which he was familiar,
holding out the assurance that he would not misinterpret him to the people.
Gokhale, bowing down before Gandhi's insistence, remarked: 'You will always
have your own way. And there is no help for me as I am here at your mercy.'
From this point onward right up to the end, he always spoke Marathi at such
meetings, with Gandhi acting as an interpreter.

On November 2, Gokhale was taken to the Tolstoy Farm. For
Gandhi, used to walking unbelievably long distances, a mile and a half
separating the Farm from Lawley railway station was nothing. Yet he
was good enough to consult Gokhale beforehand if he would like to do it
on foot, to which the latter had readily agreed, may be out of politeness.
As ill luck would have it, it rained that day and Gokhale caught a chill.
Gandhi's greatest regret was that he had not made any special
arrangement against this contingency.

At the farm, Gokhale had his due share of the austere life led by all
those who lived there. He had been put up in Kallenbach's room which was at
some distance from the kitchen. All efforts were made to serve food to the
guest according to his taste. Gandhi had personally overseen the cooking.
The difficulty lay in the food getting cold on its way to Gokhale's room.

363

THE GOKHALE VISIT

The farm had no sleeping beds. So one had been specially arranged
for Gokhale. When he learnt that everyone else slept on the floor, he
immediately asked for removal of the cot brought for him and had his bedding
spread on the floor. He did not like that Gandhi and Kallenbach should
make so much fuss to provide him whatever comfort was possible. Out of
anxiety that their guest should sleep well, they even entreated him to let
them massage his feet. Greatly put out by this kind of solicitude, Gokhale
said: 'You all seem to think that you have been born to suffer hardships and
discomforts, and people like myself have been born to be pampered ... You
must suffer today the punishment for this overdoing on your part. I will not let
you even touch me. Do you think that you will go out to attend to nature's
needs and at the same time keep a commode for me? I will bear any amount
of hardship but I will humble your pride.' Gokhale meant to assert himself, but
it was all in good humour.

Though Gokhale was expected to have a little rest at the Tolstoy Farm,
he straightaway set himself to the task of editing the record of all the speeches
delivered by him which Gandhi proposed to publish in book form. The
thoroughness with which he performed this piece of work was an eye-opener
for Gandhi. He next saw him write a small letter which according to Gandhi
should not have taken much time. But with Gokhale, it involved pacing up
and down to arrange his thoughts. Seeing Gandhi's surprise, Gokhale lectured
to him about the dangers involved in doing things in haste. He probably had
Hind Swaraj in mind.

Gokhale was at the farm for three days. On return to Johannesburg,
he visited the locations at Germiston and Boksburg and then resumed his
journey across to Natal. Passing through Newcastle, Dundee, Ladysmith
and Maritzburg, he reached Durban on November 8. At all places he was
greeted with triumphal archways and warmhearted addresses of welcome.
Two mass rallies organized in his honour were exceptionally large: about
10,000 Indian cultivators and farm labourers had assembled at Isipingo
and another 10,000 (most of them, indentured workers) at Mt. Edgecombe.
At another rally at Durban, Gokhale gave personal hearing to a number of
£3 tax-payers. Some of the Indians who were opposed toiGandhi, whether
in Natal or the Transvaal, felt that they had been denied access to the
distinguished guest.

The Europeans had joined the Indians in extending hospitality to
Gokhale. Gandhi spared no effort in making it known to the whites that the
person being escorted by him was no ordinary statesman: 'Had he been born
in England he would today be occupying the position Mr. Asquith occupied.
Had he been born in America he probably would be occupying the position
to which Dr. Woodrow Wilson had been elected, and if he had been born
in the Transvaal he would be occupying General Botha's position.' But he
continued to warn his Indian brethren against building their hopes too
high. He could see that they would not be able to secure their rights
without further struggle.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Gokhale's visit to Phoenix had the sanctity of a pilgrimage. He was
regaled with sacred songs by the young inmates including Gandhi's own son
Devdas. At night when they all sat in a relaxed mood, Gokhale asked Devdas
a question: Imagine that you are in a jungle with your father on one side and
your mother on the other. A hungry tiger appears. If you go tc the rescue of
your father, the tiger would attack your mother. If you try to protect your
mother, your father will be in danger. What would you do in this situation?
Seeing Devdas and others looking puzzled, Gandhi suggested the answer: 'I
would myself go towards the tiger and thereby protect both my father and
mother.' It was all in the spirit of the kind of education the young ones at
Phoenix were receiving. The emphasis was on character-building. Everyone
spent much of the time working with the hoe and the shovel.

Gokhale could not spend more than a day at Phoenix. On November
12, he had to leave for Pretoria. Again, on the way, addresses were
presented to him at Volksrust, Standerton and Heidelburg. At Pretoria he
was received as a state guest and arrangements were made for him to
meet the Ministers — Botha, Smuts and Fischer. Gokhale had not come
to South Africa as a representative of the Indian Government. Nevertheless,
after having acquired first-hand knowledge, he thought it proper to discuss
the principal issues relating to Indians in South Africa with the Prime
Minister and the concerned cabinet colleagues of his and explore the
possibilities of a solution. Gandhi's presence at the proposed meeting
would have acted as a barrier to free and uninhibited discussion between
Gokhale and the Ministers. It was, therefore, decided that he would keep
out of it. Since Gokhale was to go for the meeting alone, it was necessary
that he should have a thorough grasp of the subject. For acquiring it he
kept himself and others awake for one whole night. Gandhi had tg answer
all kinds of questions until Gokhale had no doubt left on any issue. It
appears that the £3 tax having to be paid by the ex-indentured Indians in
Natal was very much on his mind.

•ii

Gokhale went to the Government House at the appointed time on
November 1 4. His meeting with the Ministers lasted for about two hours.
They went over various aspects of the Indian problem and considered it
from the starrdpoint of either side. They had a frank and friendly discussion
that helped them arrive at some broad conclusions. After the meeting,
Gokhale told Gandhi confidentially that everything had been settled. The
Black Act would be repealed. The racial bar would be removed from the
immigration law. The £3 tax would be abolished. He now wanted Gandhi
to get, back to India in a year's time. The latter had his misgivings,
though. Wearing a sceptical look, he remarked: 'I doubt it very much.
You do not know the ministers as I do. I do not think I can return to India
in a year and before many more Indians have gone to gaol.' Gokhale tried
to convince Gandhi that Botha and Smuts did mean to keep the promises
they had made and again urged him: 'You must return to India within
twelve months, and I will not have any of your excuses.' Gandhi knew too

THE GOKHALE VISIT

365

well that it was not possible. He understood his adversaries better.

In the evening that day, at the Town Hall, Pretoria there was a huge
reception arranged by the Indian community to bid farewell to Gokhale. This
was the right occasion for him to deliver his concluding speech. He made it
clear that the Europeans in South Africa need not have any fear of unending
influx of Indians. He also assured them that there was no need for them to
fear that the presence of Indians in this land would adversely affect the character
of the political institutions under which they desired to live. Having given
these assurances, he expected that the Government would now make the
Indians feel that they were living under equal laws, and that those laws were
administered equitably.

His visit having ended on a happy note, Gokhale left for Delagoa Bay
and boarded s.s. Kronprinz on November 18 for his voyage back to India.
Both Kallenbach and Gandhi remained with him for over ten days. On the
steamer Gandhi could talk to Gokhale to his heart's content. Their conversation
largely revolved around Indian affairs. Thus Gandhi came to know more about
the national leaders back home.

Kallenbach and Gandhi took leave of Gokhale on November 29 and
reached Dar-es-Salaam on the morning of December 1 , the day Gandhi donned
the Indian dress for the first time in his adult life. On December 1 3, they were
again at Delagoa Bay, about the time that Gokhale landed at Bombay. He
had no illusions regarding what he had done in South Africa. In his farewell
speech at Pretoria he had stated that even if no actual good had resulted
from his visit, it had, at any rate, done no harm. Gandhi, however, held a
different view. Many years later he recollected some vital invisible gains:
'Gokhale's visit to South Africa stiffened our resolution, and the implications
and the importance of his tour were better understood when the struggle was
renewed in an active form. If Gokhale had not come over to South Africa, if he
had not seen the Union ministers, the abolition of the £3 tax could not have
been made a plank in our platform.' Above all, Gokhale's tour had greatly
enhanced Gandhi's prestige among Indians in South Africa.

There was no lack of critics in India who openly assailed the very
basis on which Gokhale had talked to the Union ministers. They were not
prepared to relax on their demand for an open-door policy for migration of
Indians to other lands forming part of the British Empire. On this point Gokhale
was at one with the man on the spot, namely Gandhi, who understood the
whole situation better than anyone else. He had always held that for finding a
reasonable solution to the problems confronting the Indians who were already
in South Africa it was necessary that the Europeans there should not have to
suffer from a fear of being swamped by the continued migration of Indians into
the subcontinent.

Against a few inclined to undervalue Gokhale's visit to South Africa,
there were many who genuinely appreciated his accomplishment. The
day following his arrival at Bombay, a meeting was held in the Town Hall
to accord him a fitting welcome home. In his address to the congregation,

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Gokhale drew the attention of the audience to the kind of person Gandhi was
and the way he had sacrificed his personal life in the service of the cause he
had taken up:

He had a splendid practice at the bar, making as much as
five to six thousand pounds a year, which is considered to
be a very good income for a lawyer in South Africa. But he
has given all that up and he lives now on £3 a month like
the poorest man in the street. One most striking fact about
him is that though he has waged this great struggle so
ceaselessly, his mind is absolutely free from all bitterness
against Europeans. And in my tour nothing warmed my
heart more than to see the universal esteem in which the
European community in South Africa holds Mr. Gandhi. At
every gathering the leading Europeans, when they came to
know that Mr. Gandhi was there, would immediately gather...
anxious to shake hands with him, making it quite clear that
though they fought him hard and tried to crush him in the
course of the struggle, they honoured him as a man.

ANOTHER CRISIS

Many people expected that Gokhale's visit would mark for the Indian
community in South Africa the beginning of a change for the better. Ironically,
Gandhi and Kallenbach who had gone up to Zanzibar to see off the distinguished
guest, even before disembarkation at Delagoa Bay, had an experience which
left them convinced that there was going to be no let-up as far as the anti-
Indian racial prejudice was concerned. A large number of passengers who
came by the same boat were poor-looking Greeks wanting to go to
Johannesburg. Their interrogation and issue of permits to them did not take
much time. When it came to Gandhi, the Immigration Officer immediately
put on a stern look and started questioning gruffly.

Q : Are you an Indian?

A : Yes.

Q : Were you born in India?

A : Yes.

Q : Do you have any papers with you?

A : No. I am a lawyer practising in the T ransvaal and I have with me a
a return ticket to Johannesburg. And I intend to go there today.

The official then concluded imperiously: 'Don't you worry about that!
Sit here; your case will be disposed of later.' Kallenbach was the next one to
be dealt with. The official asked him if he had any papers. Kallenbach replied
in the negative and then pointing towards Gandhi said that they had together
gone to see off the Hon. Mr. Gokhale. The official did not show much concern
even then. He only said: 'I shall take up his (Gandhi's) case later. I can't give
him a permit. He is an Indian.' Saying so, he prepared Kallenbach's permit
which he received reluctantly, showing how annoyed he was. Turning to Gandhi,
he said angrily (more for the official to note): 'Do you understand? You are an
Asian; your skin is dark. I am a European and white. You will have to remain
under detention.'

Both of them were in a rage, Gandhi sitting tight in his chair and
Kallenbach restlessly pacing up and down. When the local Indians who
were waiting at the pier to receive them learnt what the problem was, they
immediately put pressure on the officials and obtained the requisite permit
for Gandhi whereafter he and Kallenbach were able to disembark and take
the train to Johannesburg. The incident had left Gandhi aghast. If such

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

a thing could happen to him even now, what would be the plight of the
uneducated among Indians, incapable of defending themselves?

Gandhi could not help relating the Immigration Officer's conduct to
what he had seen of his Indian co-passengers on the deck, most of them
slovenly, with their clothes badly soiled. The entire deck was littered with
rubbish. No one seemed to be disturbed by the putrid filth all around.
Many spat right where they were sitting. The latrines were insufferably
dirty. Hardly anyone liked to have a bath even though the necessary
arrangements had been provided on the ship: this was due to a superstitious
bias against the use of saline sea water for bathing. The whole scene on the
deck, in Gandhi's view, symbolised whatever was wanting in an average Indian's
mode of living. It could not but revive in his mind the same old thoughts which
had troubled him throughout his long years in South Africa. The central point
of his thinking was that in some measure the Indians themselves were adding
to their miseries by flouting the basic rules of hygiene.

Within the restricted field of travelling as deck passengers, their
behaviour pattern largely determined how much care was taken by a
shipping company to remove their inconveniences and to see that the
crew dealt with them politely. If the people were themselves blameless,
their complaints would receive a better hearing. In the wider sphere
of racial relations, the non-whites in South Africa could hope for a
better deal provided they were mindful of their self-respect and lived a
neat and hygienic life. If they did so, everyone would be more careful
about treading upon their rights. The rule Gandhi enunciated for his
compatriots was that they should gracefully observe the simple and
reasonable norms of civic life and resist the noxious and unreasonable
laws with courage and firmness.

***

Towards the middle of January 191 3, Gandhi wound up the settlement
at Tolstoy Farm and moved to Phoenix where he wanted to spend the next few
months before his departure for India, which he thought would be possible if the
final settlement with the Union Government was reached soon enough. But
just about that time he began to see signs of growing unrest among the Indians.
The immigration laws were being administered in a more prejudicial manner
than ever before. The callousness shown by the Immigration Officer at Durban
(Mr. Cousins) in the case of Bhawani Dayal and Devi Dayal, both Transvaal-
born sons of a domiciled resident of the province, caused a great deal of heartburn
among their countrymen. They were accompanied by their wives, one of whom
had with her a baby. Although they were authorized immigrants under the
existing law, Cousins refused them even visitors’ passes. They would have
been sent back to India but for an interdict from the Supreme Court having
been obtained on their behalf by Henry Polak. This injunction was subject to a
condition that applicants should make a deposit of £100 as security.

ANOTHER CRISIS

369

Cousins, on getting this order, went aboard the ship and got from Dayal
brothers under pressure of his authority their signatures to a document
authorizing him to keep them under detention and to use the security for their
maintenance until the case was decided. It was only after the Judge issued
another order, deprecating Cousins' action, that the applicants got visitors'
passes. Even then there were a number of complications before the two
brothers' claims for entry were admitted.

There were even some judgments given by the courts in disputed cases,
having awkward implications. The Transvaal British Association was naturally
feeling exercised. Gandhi had warned the Government on January 18, 1913
that, if it was not going to be reasonable in dealing with the Indian problem, it
should be prepared for another round of passive resistance.

The Indian community was at this time anxiously waiting for passage of
an acceptable immigration law as envisaged in the provisional settlement.
While nothing positive on that front had happened, there was widespread panic
caused by the frightful judgment in the case of Mariam Bai who had come from
India with her husband, himself an authorized immigrant. They had been married
according to Muslim rites. The lady, however, was refused an entry permit by
the Immigration Officer. The only reason given was that her marriage could not
be recognized as legal. It went up as a test case to the Cape Supreme Court
and Justice Malcolm Searle in his judgment of 1 4 March 1913 gave a ruling
that marriages performed according to the rites of a religion that permitted
polygamy would not be recognized as legally valid. Accordingly Mariam Bai
had no right to enter the Cape. By implication all Muslim, Hindu and Parsi
ladies from India ceased to be the rightful wives of their husbands in the eyes
of the South African authorities. If at all they were to continue living in this
country, it was to be at the discretion of the Government.

The coming in of wives of authorized Indian immigrants had been a
prickly issue since July 1 91 1 when Justice Sir John Wessels of the Transvaal
Supreme Court gave a ruling that if anyone had more than one wife, only the
first one could be granted the right of entry. This principle was bound to make
things difficult for many of the Muslim immigrants. On getting representations
from the British Indian Association and the Hamidia Islamic Society, Smuts
had promptly assured them that cases involving hardship, if brought to his
notice, would receive consideration.

The assurance given by Smuts had very tittle meaning. What happened
at the official ievel was quite the opposite of it. For example, C.W. Cousins,
the Immigration Officer of Natal, had made it a point to decide the Indian
cases with complete lack of feeling. His name was associated with a
circular stating how unmistakable should be the evidence to satisfy the
authorities as to the identity of the wives of domiciled Indians who desired
to enter the province of Natal. He wanted to satisfy himseif beyond any
doubt that there was no violation of law in any form. If the immigrant did
not have an authentic marriage document, he was required to produce a
special certificate issued by a superior European magistrate bearing the

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

thumb-marks of the wife. The matter did not end there; the magistrate was
also to declare that the facts stated by him were correct and that he had
caused a police inquiry to be made. He was also required to attach a copy of
the police report. According to Gandhi, nothing could be more hurtful to Indian
susceptibilities than this circular.

The BIA soon got an opportunity to put Smuts' intentions to direct
test. Ebrahim Mohammed Jusset, an authorized resident of the Transvaal,
had two wives, Rasool with him in South Africa and Fatima in India. The latter
one was his first wife. It so happened that Rasool left him and he wanted to
bring Fatima to South Africa. The lower court having disallowed Fatima's
claim, the case went up to the Supreme Court where Justice Wessels
dismissed it on the ground that Rasool had not been divorced. When the
case was represented to Smuts, he replied that he was unable to find such
exceptional circumstances in Mrs. Jusset's case as to warrant his intervention.
The fact is that Smuts had held out the aforesaid assurance without any
serious intent to do anything concrete.

Already agitated about the legal issues connected with polygamous
marriages and the callousness with which the cases of Indian women coming
with their husbands or wanting to join them in South Africa were dealt with by
the immigration officials, the Indian community simply boiled over when Justice
Searie's^ judgment virtually reduced its married women to the rank of
concubines by refusing to recognize the validity of Indian marriages performed
according to the customary religious rites prevalent in India.

Gandhi was now faced with a new challenge. He had not taken the
issue connected with plurality of wives too seriously. But the Searle judgment
had raised an entirely new question having very deep ramifications. If a
marriage was legally invalid, the children from this wedlock lost their title to
be legal heirs. Gandhi proposed that the Government should take action to
alter the existing marriage law or alternatively make a suitable provision in
the new Immigration Bill to restore the position as it prevailed before Justice
Searle's decision.

The resolutions passed at a mass meeting of British Indians at
Johannesburg on March 30, 1913, while requesting the Government to
introduce remedial legislation recognizing the validity of non-Christian
marriages throughout the Union, made it clear that unless the relief asked for
was granted 'it will become the bounden duty of the community, for the
protection of its womanhood and its honour, to adopt passive resistance.
The Government looked at it as an ugly threat. It was in no mood to oblige
the Indian community on this issue on the lines suggested by the BIA. The
apparently soothing reply given by the Government included an affirmation
that it did not intend to disturb the existing practices in spite of the Searle
judgment. This sop did not have much value in the eyes of Indian leaders.
The legality or otherwise of Indian marriages and its implications had become
a common subject of discussion in Indian households. When Gandhi explained
the whole problem to Kasturba, she was beyond herself with rage:

ANOTHER CRISIS

371

Kasturba :
Gandhi :
Kasturba :
Gandhi :

Kasturba :
Gandhi :

Then I am not your wife according to the laws of this country.
That is so. Our children are not our heirs either.

Then let us go to India.

That will be an act of cowardice and that, in any case, will
not solve the difficulty.

Could I not, then, join the struggle and be imprisoned myself?
You can do that, by all means. But it is not a matter one can take
lightly. Your health is not good. You have not known the type
of hardship involved. It will be disgraceful if, after joining the
struggle, you drop out.

The zest with which sturba had spoken out her mind did not wilt
because of Gandhi's words of caution. It was not Kasturba alone. The
other Indian ladies would not keep out, if Mrs. Gandhi went to jail. The
talk had ieft Gandhi with a new idea to ponder over. It took a more concrete
shape when Sonja Schlesin as the Honorary Secretary of the Transvaal
Indian Women's Association, in the first week of May, sent a telegram to
the Minister of Interior protesting against the Searie judgment and
requesting for amendment of the existing law. It concluded with a warning
that the "earnestness of the members of the Association is such that if the
Government cannot see its way to comply with the request they would
offer passive resistance and in common with the male members of the
community court imprisonment rather than suffer the indignity to which in
their opinion the Searie judgment subjects them/

***

Besides the 'marriage imbroglio', Gandhi's mind was now occupied
with the new version of the Immigration Bill which was seen by him on
April 9, 1913. He at once struck a note of bitter disappointment with it.
The proposed legislation did not only depart from some of the
understandings arrived at in the provisional settlement, it sought to whittle
away the existing rights of Indian settlers in the Transvaal. Natal and the
Cape with 'unscrupulous subtlety'. The position regarding entry into the
Free State remained approximately the same as it was in the preceding
Bill. It also failed to protect the existing right of the South Africa-born
Indians, to migrate from other provinces into the Cape and Natal.* Gandhi
did not hesitate to deliver a warning straightaway: 'Unless the Government
yield and amend the Bill materially, passive resistance must revive, and
with it, all the old miseries, sorrows and sufferings. Homes, just re-estabiished,

* Gandhi now attached considerable importance to this issue, ft was no doubt a signifi¬
cant departure from his view on this problem in 1911 and it was to a large extent
responsible for ultimately drawing the new elite closer to him.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

must be broken up. Those passive resisters who have resumed their ordinary
vocations, must exchange them for that of becoming once more His Majesty's
guests in his gaols in South Africa.' Initially the Government remained unmoved
by the protests made against the proposed enactment. On the other hand, it
came out with a counter-threat: ’Minister strongly deprecates references in
your telegram and other communications to passive resistance. The threats
therein contained might very possibly, in view of feeling throughout the Union
on matter under consideration, lead to results far different from those
anticipated by the representatives of the Indian community Soon the
Government realised that the attitude it had adopted was not right and it
undertook to carefully consider the Indian community's objections. To some
extent this change was due to the support that the Indian cause had on this
occasion received from the South African Press.

Gandhi could not have handled this delicate situation sitting at
Phoenix. Although the problem now concerned the whole of South Africa,
the Transvaal alone could take the leading role. Gandhi had, therefore,
hurried to Johannesburg. Amass meeting of the British Indian Association
was held at Vrededorp on 27 April 1913. The resolution passed at this
meeting was brief but fiercely sharp, making it clear that if the Indian
community's request was not conceded the passive resistance would be
'revived and continued until the sufferings of the passive resisters shall have
proved to the Government and the Europeans of South Africa the earnestness
of the community and, therefore, the necessity of granting relief.' A number
of organizations in Natal representing diverse sectional interests immediately
addressed the Union Government endorsing the Transvaal BIA resolution.
But the Natal Congress itself did not lift a finger beyond what it had done
earlier by way of sending a telegram of protest against the Immigration Bill
to the Minister of Interior ending with the vague assertion that it would
oppose the bill 'with all resources in its power'.

By this time it had become known that the Natal members of
Parliament were in favour of abolishing the £3 tax on ex-indentured Indians.
Yet the Botha Government, under the influence of Free State reactionaries,
had done nothing about it. Gandhi had strongly inveighed against betrayal
of the assurance given to Gokhale on this count. This was one issue with
which the Natal Congress should have been directly concerned. But those
who dominated that body were more worried about repudiation of passive
resistance as a strategy of putting up a fight against the Union Government's
anti-Asiatic policy. Gandhi and his associates at Johannesburg could
not have overlooked this unfavourable factor. What they did was to plan for
the next round more realistically, taking into account the lessons learnt
from the previous two campaigns. In the past they had expected far too
many people to go to jail. This time for courting imprisonment they would
have a small but solid band of satyagrahis, prepared to suffer all kinds of
material ioss or discomfort and not afraid of even sacrificing their life
Thus 'what they might lack in numbers would be made up for by the

ANOTHER CRISIS

373

earnestness and the unconquerable will of the few.' For the others who
supported the satyagraha resolution but could not face the hardships of
jail life, it was prescribed that they should undertake whatever part they
were in a position to play. They could hold meetings, join demonstrations,
collect subscriptions and look after the families of those who might be
imprisoned. Writing about it in Indian Opinion , Gandhi insisted on
combined effort by Indians spread over the whole of South Africa: This
struggle is not for the Transvaal [alone], but for all South Africa. Therefore,
it befits the Cape and Natal also to wake up. It is only natural that
Johannesburg should lead the way. It would be shameful, however, if the
Cape and Natal sit back.’

The fear of passive resistance, articulation of the Asiatic viewpoint by
some of the Europeans, with W.P. Schreiner playing a leading role, and the
support given by the liberals to the Indian cause in the Parliament resulted in
some amendments to the Bill. However, the enactment as ultimately passed
towards the middle of June 1 91 3, though better than the original draft, had
failed in some respects to fulfil the commitments made by the Government in
the provisional settlement of 1 91 1 and to meet some of the other objections
raised on behalf of the Indians.

Gandhi was perilously close to launching another satyagraha
campaign. The disconcerting signals he was getting from Natal had
enjoined on him a greater degree of caution. It was also in his nature to
spare no effort for reconciliation if it was possible by any means. He
took the initiative to open negotiations and on June 28, 1913 placed
before the Government concrete proposals representing the minimum
whereby the terms of the provisional settlement would be 'just, but only
just, satisfied 9 He was prepared to swallow some of the drastic provisions
of the Act including the most objectionable one involving withdrawal of
the right of access to the Supreme Court, except in certain rare cases,
and placing the aggrieved persons at the mercy of Immigration Boards.
He only wanted the existing rights of the Indian community to remain
undisturbed and the Act to be free from the taint of racial distinction in
respect of entry into the Free State.

This move on Gandhi’s part was followed by a short period of
uncertainty. The Government was busy for some time dealing with a
major strike in the gold-mines area and the subsequent riots in
Johannesburg, and agitation by railway employees. Gandhi got a
message from General Smuts that he would be able to attend to the
Asiatic problem only after getting free from the aforesaid affairs. Gandhi
had to wait for another month before he got a reply from the Government
with which again he was not satisfied. The response to his further
communication was even more unsatisfactory. On September 10, 1913
he sent a telegram to the Secretary for Interior to the effect:

FEAR REPLY MAKES REVIVAL STRUGGLE IMPERATIVE NOTWITHSTANDING EVERY
EFFORT MINIMIZE POINTS OF DIFFERENCES.

374

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

One point in dispute that could not be resolved related to the barrier
that had been raised by the Immigration Act to restrict the entry of a
section of Natal Indians into the Cape. The victims of prejudicial
dispensation were to be the wards of those labourers who had been
indentured after the Indian Immigration Amendment Act (1895) of Natal
came into force. Gandhi was opposed to distinction being made between
one section of Indians and another. Compared to the overall Indian
population of Natal estimated at 133,000, the number of post-1895
indentured Indians and their off-spring was not more than 7,000. Even
among them there were not many who would have liked to go to the Cape.
Theoretically they had thus far enjoyed this right. Gandhi's contention
was that the Union legislation should not take it away. General Smuts
dismissed it as an entirely new point and one that had not been raised
when ali the matters at issue were dealt with in January and February
1912. Gandhi admitted that this problem had escaped his attention earlier
but emphasised that the correspondence connected with the provisional
settlement did envisage protection of all existing rights of British Indians.

The second issue, on which agreement could not be reached, pertained
to the legality of Indian marriages. Gandhi insisted that marriages among the
resident Indian population belonging to non-Christian denomination olemnised
according to customary rites must be recognized as legally valid. He wanted
an assurance that legislation to this effect would be introduced in the next
session of Parliament. About plurality of wives he did not ask for a general
recognition of polygamy. What he contended was that, in continuation of the
practice followed hitherto, existing plural wives of domiciled residents should
be allowed to come in. The Government, however, was not prepared to admit
to the Union more than one wife of a domiciled Indian.

On another point of contention, namely, the right of domicile to post-
1895 ex-indentured Indians who had resided in Natal for over three years
on payment of annual tax of £3, the Government interpretation of the relevant
clauses turned out to be what the Indian community had wished.

The last problem related to discrimination against Indians wanting
to enter the Orange Free State as fresh immigrants. All that Gandhi had
desired was that, even while they were subject to certain disabilities,
they should not have to sign a humiliating declaration that they were
required to make under the existing law. Ultimately it had been more or
less agreed that the disabilities in question would be indicated in the
general declaration to be made on entry into the Union and not at the Free
State border. Gandhi had shown a great deal of flexibility on this issue
because of his earnest desire to arrive at a compromise. But the stand
taken by the Government on the first two issues ruled out the possibility
of an amicable settlement.

In the circumstances the Indian community had no course left open to
it except the resumption of passive resistance. The irrevocable step in that
direction was taken on September 12, 1913 when a letter on this subject

ANOTHER CRISIS

375

under the signature of A.M. Cachalia, Chairman, British Indian Association,
was sent to the Secretary for Interior. It was made dear therein that the
movement this time would not be confined to the Transvaal alone and
that women as well as men would take part in it. It had been forcefully affirmed:
The leaders of the community fully realise their responsibility in the matter.
They know also what they and their countrymen will have to suffer. But they
feel that, as an unrepresented and voiceless community which had been so
much misunderstood in the past and which is labouring under a curious but
strong race prejudice, it can only defend its honour and status by a process
of sacrifice and self-suffering.6

The recourse to satyagraha having been forced upon the Indian
community, its leadership had considered it necessary not to restrict itself
in its r^Tiands to the bare minimum with which it would have been content
in ter s of the basis for settlement which Gandhi had earlier offered to the
Government. It had been explicitly spelt out in the letter of September 1 2
that the struggle the Indians were going to launch would be continued so
long as: (1 ) a racial bar disfigured the Immigration Act; (2) the rights existing
prior to the passing of the Act were not restored; (3) the £3 tax on ex-
indentured men, women and children was not abolished; (4) the legality of
Indian marriages solemnised in accordance with the customary religious
rites was not recognized; (5) generally a spirit of generosity and justice did
not pervade the administration of the relevant laws.

The most vital demand added at this time was for abolition of the
obnoxious £3 tax. it was an unwarranted burden imposed upon the ex-
indentured labourers anxious to remain in the country to which they had
given the best part of their youth. It was a tax which was universally condemned
since its imposition except by those Natalians who stood to gain from
compelling the helpless labourers to re-indenture and continue working as
bonded slaves. These beneficiaries grudged removal of the tax even after the
system of indenture itself had been discontinued. When Gokhale came to
South Africa he found that many prominent people of Natal were in favour of
removing this levy. This was one of the issues he discussed with the Union
ministers who agreed that the tax would be done away with. Gandhi knew
that General Botha as well as Smuts would have liked to fulfil their pledged
word but for the devious party politics and their fear of arousing antagonism of
certain reactionary elements. In June 1 91 3, he learnt that the Government
was inclined to approach the Parliament to withdraw the tax as far as women
were concerned. He was sorely disappointed with the Union Government's
attitude. About this time he had written to Kallenbach: 'I am resolving in my
own mind the idea of doing something for the indentured men.' Yet he had not
brought this issue to the forefront on that occasion because it would have
made it more difficult to effect a compromise. When, however, the Indians
were compelled to resort to passive resistance, Gandhi and his associates
could not ignore the fact that failure to remove this impost was as serious a breach
of faith as non-fulfilment of assurances given under the provisional settlement of

376

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

1911 . The more Gandhi thought about this matter the more clearly he saw
how atrocious this impost really was. Anyone failing to pay it was up against
the officials empowered to recover it by a civil process, which meant auctioning
away whatever meagre possessions the labourer had. Although there was no
provision for imprisonment under any circumstances, the administration had
devised indirect means to send the defaulters to jail. The court would first
pass a decree for early payment of the outstanding amount. The person
failing to comply with the magistrate's order was charged with contempt of
court for which the accused could be sentenced to imprisonment except
when he was able to prove his inability to meet the demand because of
poverty. It was up to the court to accept or reject the evidence brought up in
that regard. The result was hundreds of ex-indentured labourers, including
some women, finding themselves in prison. Faced with this awful reality
Gandhi realised how negligent the Natal Indian leadership had been about
the imposition of this tax: 'It would never have been imposed if we, the free
Indian settlers of Natal, had, at the time, done our duty completely ... Had we
taken more pains than we did, these poor people would have been free from
the yoke which they had borne for 15 years... Who can tell how much ...
burden [of guilt) we have to bear?' With such thoughts troubling Gandhi’s
mind, this issue gradually assumed the highest priority among the demands
put forward by the Indians.

Gandhi was aware that the small Indian community in South Africa
was pitted against the all-powerful Union Government determined to go its
own way. But he was unable to understand why the Secretary of State for
Colonies should have let them down so badly. The Colonial Office had been
more concerned with formalities than justice as such. It had dutifully obtained
the Government of India’s concurrence to the new Immigration Law. it had no
anxiety to guard against subterfuges that the Union Government was prepared
to employ to avoid falling from grace with Whitehall. Gandhi was convinced
that the British Indians in South Africa should not expect any help from the
Imperial Government unless, by passive resistance, they could open its eyes
and make it understand how criminally it had neglected its responsibility.

THIRD ROUND

Gandhi had been having regular correspondence with Gokhale. The
latter took some time to grasp that another round of passive resistance,
involving far greater suffering than before, was inevitable. When he could clearly
see the writing on the wall, he asked Gandhi to give him some idea of his
planning and the strength of his army of peace. After taking stock of the
existing position, he had written to Gokhale that, so far as he could perceive,
1 00 men and 1 3 women would join the movement to start with. He expected
the number of satyagrahis to increase later. According to his assessment,
the struggle would last for about a year, but in case he could manage to have
more men than he anticipated the whole thing might be over during the next
session of the Union Parliament.

Gandhi had felt peeved at the manner in which some of the Indian
leaders had criticised him as well as Gokhale after the latter's return from
South Africa. One of them had even remarked that the funds sent to South
Africa had all been wasted. In his letter of April 19, 1913, Gandhi had
written to Gokhale: ' ... we shall not appeal to the public in India for
pecuniary support. If those who know me personally wish to send anything,
I shall gratefully accept the help. The plan would be to beg in South Africa
from door to door. I think that thereby we shall manage to get sufficient to
feed and clothe us while we are out of gaol. May I ask you also not to
make any public appeal for funds. Gandhi had reiterated this line of thought
in his letter of June 20,1913 also.

Gokhale knew better how much importance to attach to the critics
Gandhi had in mind. In fact he did not like the way the latter had reacted.
His reply was sharp: 'We in India have some idea of our duty even as
you understand your obligations in South Africa. We will not permit you
to tel! us what is or is not proper for us to do. I only desired to know the
position in South Africa, but did not seek your advice as to what we may
do.' This reprimand went home and Gandhi never afterwards said or wrote
a word on the subject.

After it became clear that an amicable settlement was out of question,
Gandhi lost no time in taking the field. Giving a call for the new campaign,
Gandhi wrote in Indian Opinion of September 13 that the object of the

378

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

struggle now would be ’to kill the monster of racial prejudice in the heart of
the Government and the local whites.' This time, Gandhi was undertaking a
fight to bring about a basic change in the thinking of the Government and the
European population it represented.

He had moved back to Phoenix in the first week of September. Most of
the settlers there were his kinsmen or otherwise closely associated with
him. He had decided to embody them all to actively participate in the struggle
except those few who were needed at Phoenix to keep Indian Opinion going
and to look after the children. Crossing the provincial borders without permits
was to be an important method of courting imprisonment. Gandhi had taken
special care to brief the women folk. He did not want them to take a plunge
and then discover that they could not withstand the hardships of jail life. To
his great delight, he found them bubbling with enthusiasm. Kasturba was to
be the pace-setter among them.

On September 15, a pioneer group of sixteen satyagrahis, twelve
men and four women, including Mrs. Gandhi and her 16-year-oid son
Ramdas, entrained the Kaffir Mail from Durban. Their programme had
purposely not been publicised. Nevertheless, about a hundred Indians
saw them off at the Central Station. On arrival of the train at Volksrust,
they were stopped b .e Immigration Officer When they were interrogated
by the officer, all the alking on their behalf was done by Chhaganial. He
politely explained that as passive resisters they had no intention to comply
with any provisions of the existing immigration law. The officer declared
them as prohibited immigrants and prevented them from continuing their
journey to Johannesburg, and yet he was not ready to take them in custody
until he received instructions from the Government. The real problem was
that the administration did not have enough accommodation at the police
station for all of them.

On the other hand, the satyagraha party did not want to stay with the
Indian friends at Volksrust howsoever insistent they were to extend their
hospitality. To force the issue, Chhaganial served a formal notice on the officer
that if he persisted in detaining the group without taking them in custody they
would consider themselves free to resume their journey to Johannesburg. In
consequence the whole party was deported to a point across the Natal border
on September 22, 1 91 3. Deportation meant pushing the persons concerned
beyond a line midway between the banks of a shallow stream. Afew moments
after this was done, the party recrossed into the Transvaal whereupon they
were arrested and on trial sentenced to terms of hard labour ranging from one
to three months. Kasturba was one of those who got three months.

***

Gandhi now wanted to go across to the Transvaal. He left Durban on
September 25 by Kaffir Mail. On the way he had some unpalatable experience.
The manner in which he reacted to it shows that his preoccupation

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379

with a major task did not prevent him from tackling a comparatively minor
matter with absolute thoroughness. He and his companions were provided,
by one of the conductors, a clean and comfortable third-class compartment.
When the train stopped at Ladysmith, another conductor came and told
them abruptly to shift to another coach. Gandhi wanted to know the reason.
The conductor told him that the compartment occupied by them was meant
for Europeans only. But it was not so labelled. Pointing this out, Gandhi
added that it was the conductor at Durban who had accommodated them
therein. Losing his temper, the official snapped at Gandhi: 'Don't argue with
me. ! tell you to get out. This train is now under my charge. If you must
continue here, go and take the Station Master's permission.' Gandhi went
across to the Station Master but he was in no mood to oblige him. Gandhi
had made up his mind to remain In the same compartment in the hope that it
would lead to his arrest which would be welcome to him. Before the matter
came to a head, someone told the conductor that the person he was dealing
with was none other than Gandhi. Immediately the man calmed down. When
they reached Volksrust, four persons accompanying Gandhi were arrested
for having entered the Transvaal without permits. But Gandhi was allowed to
continue his journey to Johannesburg. Immediately on reaching there, he
addressed a letter to the General Manager, South African Railways, requesting
him to advise the Station Masters and other officials to behave courteously
towards the passengers even if they were not Europeans.

The passive resisters in Johannesburg had been waiting for
Gandhi's arrival before they took any step. The first thing he did on
arrival was to address a meeting of about fifty Indian women on September
28. He found them determined to follow in the footsteps of their sisters
from Phoenix who were already in jail serving their term of hard labour.
Despite his warning about the hardships of prison life, they remained
firm in their resolve to fight for their honour. The same evening, Gandhi
along with his other colleagues addressed a mass meeting at Vrededorp.
Next day some of the satyagrahis dressed themselves as hawkers and
went out on their rounds. The following day three persons including
Manilal were arrested for unauthorized hawking and sentenced to seven
days in prison with hard labour. It was three more days before two other
persons were put under arrest.

The Government had been in no hurry to jail Gandhi. That his wife and
two sons had already taken active part in the movement was satisfying enough
for him. He would have been happy if, in compliance with his wishes, Harilal
and his wife had also come to South Africa and joined the struggle. But then,
apart from Harilal's own reservations, Gokhale also wanted that he should
remain in India and continue his studies.

The Transvaal Indian women who had volunteered for passive
resistance and did participate in illegal hawking were disappointed
because of the authorities having refrained from arresting them. On October
2, 1 91 3, which happened to be Gandhi's 44th birthday, an action that was to

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develop into a last-ditch fight, was launched without any fanfare. Twelve
women, accompanied by Kallenbach, left by train for Maritzburg ostensibly
for courting arrest at the Transvaal-Natal border. Gandhi had planned that in
case these satyagrahis were not arrested on entering Natal, they should go
on to Newcastle, the coal-mining centre in that province, and induce the
Indian labourers there to stop working. Gandhi did not believe in doing such a
thing on the quiet. On September 28, he had written to the Union Secretary
for Interior apprising him of the step he was about to take. 'I know that it is
fraught with danger. I know also that, once taken, it may be difficult to control
the spread of the movement beyond the limits one may set... This step
consists in actively, persistently and continuously asking those who are liable
to pay the £3 tax to decline to do so and to suffer the penalties for non¬
payment and, what is more important, in asking those who are now serving
indenture and who will, therefore, be liable to pay the £3 tax on completion of
their indenture to strike work until the tax is withdrawn.’

The women resisters, on their way to Natal, were not arrested for
entering the province without permits. They went on to Newcastle and
engaged themselves in the task assigned to them. They were led by the
veteran satyagrahi Thambi Naidoo. Their own mother tongue being Tamil,
they could easily commune with the coalfield workers largely hailing from
Madras Presidency. It did not take them long to produce the desired effect
on the labourers. Their success was partly attributable to the fact that the
demand for repeal of the £3 tax related to the removal of a deep-felt grievance
which was uppermost in the minds of the indentured labourers of whom
about 65 percent were undergoing second or subsequent terms of indenture,
not knowing how long they would have to remain in this bondage and suffer
the hardships of their present jobs. The only escape route they could think
of was abolition of the tax that would enable them to explore other
opportunities of better employment. What price should they not have been
prepared to pay for this redemption ?

In the meantime the passive resistance movement as such had
gained only limited momentum. Two women from Durban were arrested
on crossing the border at Volksrust on October 6. On October 9, three
persons including Manila! were again sentenced to ten days' imprisonment
with hard labour for hawking illegally. Bai Fatima Mehtab, her mother and
son, the family of Gandhi's old friend Sheikh Mehtab, had left Durban for
Volksrust to court arrest. On October 14, they were sentenced to three
months' imprisonment with hard labour. The number of satyagrahis who had
gone to jail so far was 35 ,

Having got no positive response from the Government to his letter of
September 28, Gandhi issued a statement on October 15 re-affirming the
Indian community's demands and formally announcing that the indentured
labourers’ strike would form part of the movement until the £3 tax was
abolished. By this time. Thambi Naidoo and the team of Tamil women
assisting him had been able to mobilize the target group. On October 17,

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381

with a large number of coalfield labourers of Indian origin in the
neighbourhood of Newcastle putting their tools down, the satyagraha
campaign entered a new phase, Gandhi was happy to see that his plan
had worked. What he cleariy realised was that the situation had to be
handled by him personally. He, therefore, lost no time in proceeding to
Newcastle. His arrival there had an electrifying effect on the strikers and
in response to his prompting many more joined their ranks. Determined to
conduct the strike on passive resistance lines, Gandhi advised them that
on no account were they to use physical force by way of defence or
retaliation. He also inducted into the coalfield area some of the experienced
passive resisters and other volunteers, particularly Tamil-speaking Natal-
born Indians. One of their important functions was to keep in check the
strikers who felt inclined to return to work.

The strike in Newcastle had come off at a time when Gandhi could not
have expected much help from the Natal Congress, already a house divided
against itself. A strong pressure group had embarked upon outright
denunciation of Gandhi and the policy he had followed thus far. They held him
responsible for continuous erosion of the Indian merchants' position. They
also criticised him for giving undue importance to his white lieutenants. The
mine-owners and their collaborators were also not sitting idle. They had gone
ail out to foster discord within the Indian community of Natal. At a mass
meeting of Indians at Durban on October 19, for which Gandhi went from
Newcastle, one of the secretaries of the Natal Congress tendered his
resignation and in doing so made a long statement vilifying Gandhi. The latter
could see that many of the people present were hostile to him. The fact that
those who supported Gandhi were equally vociferous could not have helped
matters. Passions were rising on either side, as had happened at a similar
meeting held on October 12. Gandhi felt that if such discussions went on,
the infighting might increase. At his suggestion, the Chairman promptly
dissolved the meeting. All those who had not lent their support to the dissenters
formed themselves into a procession and went to Parsee Rustomjee’s place
where they held a fresh meeting and formed a new body, comprising most of
the new elite and Gandhi supporters from the merchant class, with Daud
Mohammed as President and Omar Haji Arnod Jhaveri as Secretary, two of
the most respected persons of the community. The first thing done by the
Natal Indian Association that came into existence as a result of the split was
to pass a resolution in support of the ongoing campaign. It also created a
special strike fund to sustain this part of the movement. Having scrabbled
through this internal conflict, Gandhi got back to Newcastle to take care of
the strike. There were signs of its spreading to the sugar and tea plantations,
as well as the railways in Natal.

No one was cowed down by the initial Government intervention in the
form of arrest and imprisonment of some strikers. Gandhi would have felt
happy if a larger number of strikers had been jaiied. Anyhow, the next
thing that happened was the arrest of eleven women satyagrahis who had

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

played a leading role in the agitation. On October 21 , they were sentenced
to three months' rigorous imprisonment. They were taken to the same jail
at Maritzburg where their sisters from Phoenix had been lodged. There
they had a gruelling time. The reports about the hardships they were put
to, including heavy laundry work and bad food, only helped steel the will
of the menfolk.

The strikers were coming into Newcastle and their number was on
the increase. The civic amenities in the township were under the control of
mine-owners who retaliated by cutting off light and water supply for the area
where the striking labourers lived. In some cases the strikers were forcibly
turned out of their shacks and their household goods thrown away. The
intention was to put all kinds of pressure on the strikers and compel them
to get back to work.

Gandhi himself was staying with David Lazarus, a middle-class Tamilian
belonging to a family of indentured labourers and now having a house of his
own with a small plot of land. He had earlier accommodated the women
satyagrahis until they were arrested and sent to jail. Kindhearted Lazarus, a
true Christian in every sense, had opened his house for use by Gandhi as his
general headquarters for management of the strike. All the time men
would come and go ... The kitchen fire would know no rest day and night.
Mrs. Lazarus would drudge like a slave all day long, and yet her face as well
as her husband's would always be lit up with a smile ....'

Every group of strikers who came to seek Gandhi's instructions had
its own tale of woes. One of them, Saiyad Ibrahim, came and rolled up the
earflap of his shirt, showed his back and said: 'Look, how badly I have been
thrashed. I am a Pathan, and we never take but always give a beating. I let
those rascals go for your sake, as such are your orders.' 'Well done, brother,'
replied Gandhi. 'I look upon such conduct alone as real bravery. We will win
because of people like you.' The doughty Pathan looked pacified. But Gandhi
was left wrapped up in thought. He had to seriously reflect over the handling
of the situation from this point onward.

After carefully considering all aspects of the problem before him, Gandhi
advised the perplexed labourers that the only possible course for them was to
leave their company quarters and join his peace brigade. But how was he to
house and feed them? Another problem was that keeping a large mass of
people without work would give rise to trouble. In his own mind he had planned
to lead the hard core of strikers to the Transvaal border and 'see them safely
deposited in jail like the Phoenix party.' If he could thus remove a substantial
number of strikers from Newcastle where the agents of the mine -owners were
trying to coerce or lure away the workers, it would be an insurance against the
strike petering out before fulfilment of the demand for which it was called. Most
of the collieries had continued to issue the daily food ration to the strikers. This
was one major temptation that could have attracted them to stay on in the
coalfield area. The plan that Gandhi had formulated was a good safeguard against
such a thing happening. He declared: We consider it improper to live on mine

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383

ratiors when we don't work.' Gandhi promised the labourers that he would
be with them 'so long as the strike lasted and so long as they were still out
of jail.' He assured them that the ultimate victory would be theirs if they
could face up to the tribulations of prison life. He made it clear that those
who thought that it was too difficult a line of action had better return to the
mines. T rue to his creed, he affirmed that no one would look down upon and
intimidate those who chose to resume their work.

The labourers he had talked to readily agreed to go wherever Gandhibhai
wished to take them. The result was a continuous stream of pilgrims — men,
women and children with small bundles on their heads, eddying into the
fields around Mr. Lazarus' house. Luckily, the weather remained fair and
there was no difficulty in camping out in the open. Some of the Indian traders
had supplied cooking-ware, eating-utensils and bags of rice and pulses. As
the word spread, large quantities offoodgrain, vegetables and other accessories
started pouring in. There was no dearth of volunteers ready to look after the
strikers and their families.

The number of men on strike had gone up to about two thousand. The
strength of Gandhi’s army was increasing every day. He did not want the
waiting time at Newcastle to be too long. One important decision to be taken
was about the mode of travel for reaching Charlestown on the Transvaal border
located at a distance of 36 miles. Going there by train, he thought, was
pointless. For one thing, he did not have the money to pay the railway fare for
so many people. The better course was to march on foot. Apart from other
considerations, it would have the additional advantage of putting the strikers'
morale to test. When he talked to the labourers about it, some of them who
had their wives and children with them looked hesitant. At this moment Gandhi
found it necessary to declare that those who could not join the proposed trek
were free to return to the mines, though no one chose to do that. It was,
however, decided that the disabled persons would be sent to Charlestown by
rail. All others were ready to cover the distance on foot. After the whole thing
had been discussed everyone was happy.

While preparations for the march were being made Gandhi received
an invitation from the mining magnates to meet them at Durban. Accordingly
he went there on October 25. Addressing a meeting of the leading employers
of Indian labour, Gandhi explained that the coalmine-strike was entirely the
result of failure on the Union Government's part to fulfil the promise given by
it to Gokhale that among other things the £3 tax would be abolished. He
quite understood the mine-owners' anxiety about the losses that they were
likely to suffer if the strike continued too long. They all expressed the view
that continuation of the levy in question or otherwise was an issue over
which they had no control. Gandhi pointed out to them that the tax had
been imposed for the benefit of mine-owners who wanted the labourers to
work for them but not as free men: 'If therefore the labourers strike work in
order to secure a repeal of the £3 tax, I do not see that it involves any
impropriety or injustice to the mine-owners.'

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Q : You will not then advise the labourers to return to work?

Gandhi : I am sorry ! can't.

Q : Do you know what will be the consequences?

Gandhi : I know, ! have a full sense of responsibility.

Q : Yes, indeed. You have nothing to lose. But wili you compensate
the misguided labourers for the damage you will cause them?

Gandhi : The labourers have gone on strike after due deliberation,
knowing very well the losses that would accrue to them. I
cannot conceive a greater loss to a man than the loss of his
self-respect, and it is a matter of deep satisfaction to me that
the labourers have realised this fundamental principle.

Gandhi had told the mine-owners that if they could secure the abolition
of the £3 tax the strike would be called off straightaway. They seemed to have
understood the rationale behind the strike. The Natal Collieries Association,
about this time, publicly dissociated itself from an earlier Government
statement that the majority of Natal employers were averse to
the abolition of the £3 tax. It also wanted to know what the Government had to
say about the assurance said to have been given to Gokhale. When the Association
was told by the administration that no such promise had been held out, the
colliery-owners concluded that the strike had been caused due to a
misunderstanding and warned the Indian workers that they would not get rations
if they continued to stay away from work: on the other hand, if they resumed duty
within 24 hours they would receive their normal wages for the period of their
absence. This notification only added to the urgency of removing the strikers
from the mining area and, if possible, getting them into jail, which would make
the Government responsible for their subsistence.

During his journey to Durban and back, Gandhi had noticed
considerable public sympathy for the strikers' cause, particularly because
of their peaceful behaviour. He found the junior railway staff wanting to be
friendly with him. On getting back to Newcastle, he saw that the labourers
were still trickling into tne camp. He reported to the assemblage whatever
had transpired at Durban. He told the poor labourers who had put their faith
in him that there was no knowing how long the struggle would last. He
therefore urged that the waverers, if any, should return to the mines. But
there were none. This was his method of fortifying the strikers' will to fight to
the bitter end. The latter in their turn assured him that they were quite used
to hardships, and therefore he need not have doubts regarding their
stamina. The number of strikers by this time had gone up to about 3,000.

CLIMAX

On the evening of October 27,1913, Gandhi announced to the
labourers camping on David Lazarus' grounds that the first group would
set out on its march to Charlestown the next morning and that he himself
would lead it. He read out and explained to them the rules to be observed
on what was going to be a journey of redemption. They were to carry the
minimum of clothes with them. They were to subsist on a daily ration of a
pound and a half of bread and an ounce of sugar. No one was to touch
anyone's property en route. If they came across any official or non-official
European and he used abusive language or caused physical injury to
them, they were to bear with it. They would offer themselves for arrest
whenever the police chose to effect it. The march was to continue even if
Gandhi was taken in custody. The names of persons who would
successively lead them in his place were also announced.

In the early hours of October 28, the front-line formation, comprising
about 200 persons including some women with their children, started
from Newcastle. With his experience of the Boer War and the Zulu
rebellion to draw upon, Gandhi had no difficulty in looking after the
operation. On the way he received bags of rice and dal sent by Indian
traders. So it was possible to provide the marchers at many of the meals
more varied food than had been promised. The distance of 36 miles was
covered in two days. For the intervening night, grass fields on the wayside
served as a veritable bedding for the wary trampers. On the second day,
the police wanted to arrest 1 50 of the strikers which Gandhi welcomed
with all his heart. The single police official who had appeared on the
scene was, however, unable to take charge of the men to be arrested. It
was agreed between him and Gandhi that these persons would be taken
in custody at Charlestown which was only six miles away. Even on
reaching there, the police officer found himself helpless. The Charlestown
police station did not have enough room to keep them. Nor was there an
arrangement to convey the prisoners to Newcastle. Consequently they
were left under Gandhi's charge with an understanding that the
Government would pay for their food.

Charlestown was a small border township with a population of not
more than one thousand. Kaiienbach, Sonja Schlesin and P.K. Naidoowere
already there to receive the coalfield workers' brigade. On its arrival, some
of the women and children were accommodated in the houses of local

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Indian merchants. The others camped in the open. They had hardly spread
hemselves out in Charlestown when fresh batches comprising hundreds of
strikers who had left Newcastle after departure of the vanguard under Gandhi's
care started arriving. They brought with them several stories of coercion and
violence directed against those on strike which, none the less, was in full
swing. Among them there were two brave women who had left their homes
with small infants. One of them had died of exposure on the march. The other
fell from the arms of its mother while she was crossing a streamlet and was
drowned. Instead of crying out of anguish, one of them said: 'We must not
pine for the dead who will not come back to us for all our sorrow. It is the living
for whom we must work.' Quiet heroism of this type was the hallmark of
satyagraha as Gandhi had conceived it.

To his great surprise, some of the local whites were extremely helpful.
The District Health Officer, Dr. Briscoe, was gracious enough to provide free
medical aid. Concerned about sudden increase in the population of
Charlestown, instead of issuing fiats from his office, he came to Gandhi and
discussed with him the measures required to be taken to avoid insanitary
conditions. This was one aspect about which Gandhi himself was very
particular. He undertook to see that his men remained within the area
earmarked for them and kept it clean, taking special care of sanitation. It was
by no means a simple task, but Gandhi had his own way of going
about it. Since he himself never hesitated to do sweeping, scavenging and
other such work, all others joined in doing it enthusiastically.

The most demanding task at the camp was cooking and distribution of
food. Conscious of its great importance, Gandhi attended to it with the utmost
care. He considered himself the Chief Cook and tried to simplify the cooking
process to the maximum extent. For example, dal and vegetables would all be
steamed together. The total quantity of food required was so large that it was
not always possible to do it to perfection. With Gandhi himself taking the
responsibility when the food was ill-cooked, everyone cheerfully gulped down
whatever was served As there was an endless flow of newcomers, the kitchen
fire had to be kept going round the clock. Sometimes the number of diners was
far more than expected It was again Gandhi's responsibility to mollify them
and see that they remained content with a little less than their normal requirement
of food. The picture drawn by an eyewitness who saw him totally absorbed in
this work: 'I found Mr. Gandhi in an evil-smelling backyard of a tin shanty ...
Before him was a rough deal table and at his side were twelve sacks containing
500 loaves of bread. Clad only in his shirt and trousers, Mr. Gandhi, with
incredible rapidity, cut the loaves into three-inch hunks, filled ...with sugar from
the bowl at his elbow, and passed them on to the waiting queue of Indians, who
were admitted to the yard in batches of twelve.'

Gandhi enjoyed doing this work but there were many things that caused
him distress. The strikers who had chosen to follow him were a motley
crowd, some of them having been to jail for offences like homicide,
fornication and larceny. He could not have excluded such persons without

CLIMAX

387

disrupting the whole movement Realising that it was impossible to
meticulously apply very high satyagraha standards to the strike, he tried to
make do with the heterogeneous multitude constituting his army. However,
he did find it painful when he had to deal with cases of fighting and adultery.
He tried his best to create an atmosphere conducive to good conduct. Despite
all the care he took, it was difficult to keep such men on the right path so long
as there was not enough work to engage them.

Nothing would have pleased Gandhi more than imprisonment of the
entire brigade while it was camping at Charlestown. If the Government did
not do so, the only option left would be to invite imprisonment by making an
entry into the Transvaal. If the Government still chose to leave them free
they would have to go on a long march to the Toistoy Farm where the
strikers could be put to work for their maintenance until the strike was
called off. This, according to Gandhi's plan, was to be the last resort. In
case that became necessary, he was likely to march through Johannesburg
and organize a public meeting there. Before taking any further step, he
thought it proper to report his own plan of action to the Government and find
out what it proposed to do.

At no stage had Gandhi broken his communication with the authorities.
On getting to know that the Government in its reply to the representation
of Natal Collieries Association about the Indian labourers' strike had denied
having made any promise to Gokhale about the abolition of the £3 tax, he
had at once addressed a telegram to the Minister of Interior questioning the
validity of this denial. He drew his attention to the fact that the promise in
question had been alluded to by the Indian side repeatedly without the
Government contradicting it. He also added that the strike had no connection
with other grievances of the Indian community. It was solely meant to force
the issue regarding the repeal of the £3 tax: the moment it was withdrawn the
strike would be called off.

On October 31 , Gandhi wrote to the Union Secretary for Justice that the
strikers who had gathered at Charlestown would like to surrender themselves
for arrest: if they were not arrested, they would set out on their march into the
T ransvaal which he was anxious to avoid. He made it clear that if in this process
some Indian surreptitiously entered the Transvaal, he would not take responsibility
for it. Finally he again assured the Government that if the £3 tax was repealed,
the strike would straightaway come to an end. While waiting for a reply to this
letter, Gandhi saw to it that the preparations for the march were complete to
the smallest detail. Arrangements were made with the leading baker of Volksrust
to supply the required quantity of bread at each of the halts. Thanks to Dr. Briscoe's
courtesy, a small medical chest was also kept ready.

With each passing day, the atmosphere was getting thick with tension.
The strikers were feeling uncertain as to what was going to happen. The
Government policy apart, the attitude adopted by the white residents of
Volksrust which lay just across the border was to be an important factor in
determining how smoothly the long march to the Tolstoy Farm was to

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GANDHi — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

proceed. The European community there had held a meeting on November
4. There was no lack of fanatics who had all manner of threats to spout.
Some of them had yelled that they would shoot the Indians if they entered
the province. Gandhi's conscience-keeper, Kallenbach, also attended this
meeting and tried to reason with the hotheads. No one, however, was prepared
to listen to him. The rowdies among the crowd were in an ugly mood, but
Kallenbach himself looked so stout and formidable that they kept themselves
in check. Neverthless one person challenged him for a duel, to which
Kallenbach’s reply was: ’As I have embraced the religion of peace, I may not
accept the challenge. Let him who will come and do his worst with me. But I
will continue to claim a hearing at this meeting.'

Kallenbach did have his say. He put the strikers' case before the
audience with remarkable lucidity. He laid stress on the fact that Indians had
no intention of jeopardising the position held by Europeans as rulers of South
Africa. All that they sought was simple justice. The labourers who proposed
to enter the Transvaal were to do so not with a view to settling there, but in
order to protest against the unjust levy imposed on them. He went on to say:
They are brave men. They will not injure you in person or in property, they will
not fight with you, but enter the Transvaal they will, even in the face of your
gunfire. They are not the men to beat a retreat from the fear of your bullets or
your spears ... Beware and save yourselves from perpetrating a wrong.' His
listeners stood tongue-tied. The tough-looking man who had asked him for a
duel became his friend.

Gandhi had received no reply from the Government. He could not
continue to wait for it indefinitely. He made up his mind that he would
start from Charlestown with his army on the morning of November 6. On
November 5, before giving the marching order, he thought it proper to
ring up Genera! Smuts. On getting his Secretary on the line, he said:
'Please tell General Smuts that I am fully prepared for the march. The
Europeans in Volksrust are excited and perhaps likely to violate even
the safety of our lives. They have certainly held out such a threat. I am
sure that even the General would not wish any such untoward event to
happen. If he promises to abolish the £3 tax, I will stop the march, as I
will not break the law merely for the sake of breaking it...' There was a
short pause. After having a word with General Smuts, the Secretary
came back on the line and told Gandhi: 'General Smuts will have nothing
to do with you. You may do just as you please.'

Gandhi did not hope for a better result, but he had not expected so
curt a reply. There was nothing that he could do about it. The next day at 6.30
in the morning, after offering prayers, the Gandhi brigade began the march
from Charlestown. Its composition was: 2,037 men, 127 women and 57
children. The number of workers on strike by this time had swelled up to
about 5,000, including a few hundred railway employees and farm labourers.
The total number of Indians working on the mines was only about 3,900.

About a mile from Charlestown there was a small spruit separating Natal

CLIMAX

389

from the Transvaal. Across the watercourse, a contingent of mounted police
had taken position at the border gate, but with what aim no one could say.
Gandhi went up to the commander after having directed the marchers to
cross over on getting a signal from him. He was still busy talking to the police
official when the strikers, unable to restrain themselves, ran headlong across
the border with the police making a futile effort to surround them. Gandhi had
to pacify the marchers and line them up into regular files. Soon it became
evident that the police had no intention of arresting them. Gandhi then ordered
his brigade to march on.

As the long procession passed through the streets of Volksrust, the
local Europeans looked at them with great curiosity. Even those who had
threatened violence two days earlier kept their cool. An eyewitness account:
The pilgrims whom Mr. Gandhi is guiding are an exceedingly picturesque
crew. To the eye, they appear most meagre, indeed, emaciated; their legs
are mere sticks, but the way they are marching on the starvation rations
provided shows them to be particularly hardy.' As was to be the case throughout
the march, a number of Europeans met the Indian column at various points
and offered their sympathy and even active assistance.

By about 5 p.m. the marchers reached Palmford, some eight miles from
Volksrust. As planned, they spent the night there. They were given their ration of
bread and sugar. Having had theirfill, they spread themselves on the bare ground.
Many sat for sometime, singing their favourite songs. Some of the women, who
had carried babes in their arms for the whole day, were totally exhausted.
Arrangements were made to put them up with an Indian merchant who undertook
to send them by rail to the Tolstoy Farm if the whole brigade was allowed to go
there or back to their homes if the others were consigned to jail. Later at night,
when it was all quiet and Gandhi was getting ready to sleep, a European police
officer carrying a lantern in his hand appeared on the scene. Approaching Gandhi,
he said that he had come with a warrant for his arrest.

Gandhi: Where will you take me?

Police Officer: To the adjoining railway station now, and to Volksrust

when we get a train.

Gandhi straightaway made up his mind to go without informing his
men, but he had to leave some instructions with one of his co-workers. He
woke up P.K. Naidoo and told him what had transpired. The instructions he
left with him: The pilgrims should not get to know anything during the night.
The march should recommence before sunrise next morning. At the breakfast
halt, the pilgrims may be informed that he had been arrested. If the
police came to arrest others, they must surrender themselves without
demur. Otherwise they should continue the march according to programme.
After briefing P.K. Naidoo, Gandhi walked off with the police official
to the railway station. Before they took the train for Volksrust next
morning, Gandhi sent a long telegram to the Union Government questioning the

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

wisdom of tearing him away from the strikers' brigade marching on bare
subsistence rations under his charge. He made it clear that if the men felt
infuriated on getting to know about his arrest and any untoward incidents
occurred en route, the responsibility would rest with the Government. He
suggested that either he be allowed to continue the march with his men or
the Government should send the brigade by rail to the Tolstoy Farm, providing
full rations for them. Gandhi was justifiably indignant, for he had taken pains
to bring about a situation that should have led to all the marchers being jailed
along with him. He naturally felt peeved by his own arrest while over two
thousand people who had to be taken care of by him were at the loose end.
Although this contingency had been envisaged in the overall planning, he
certainly did not like the Government taking this awkward step.

On arrival at Volksrust, when he was produced before the magistrate,
the Public Prosecutor was not ready to present his case and, therefore,
asked for a remand until the 14th instant. The case was adjourned. Gandhi
applied for bail for this period so that he could lead the people in his charge
to their destination. The Public Prosecutor opposed the application. Under
the law, the request made by the accused was irresistible. The court ordered
his release on a bail of £50. He was now free for a week. Kallenbach was
there ready with a car. They at once motored down to catch up with the
caravan of strikers who were beside themselves with joy on having Gandhi
back in their midst. Leaving him there, Kallenbach returned to Volksrust to
look after the persons still encamped at Charlestown as well as others
continuing to trickle in.

On the afternoon of November 8, Gandhi's brigade was at Standerton.
He was busy feeding the pilgrims when a magistrate arrived there. Since
the meal included a helping of marmalade supplied by a kind-hearted
Indian merchant, the passing around of food was taking excessive time.
The magistrate patiently waited until Gandhi could complete the work on
hand. The latter had sensed that the gentleman was wanting to have a
word with him. The moment their eyes met, the magistrate laughed and
said: 'You are my prisoner.’

Gandhi : It would seem I have received promotion in rank, as a

magistrate has taken the trouble to arrest me instead of a
mere police official. I hope you will try me just now.

Magistrate : You please come with me. The courts are still in session

Advising the pilgrims to continue their march, Gandhi took leave of them.
On reaching the court, he found that five of his co-workers, including P.K.
Naidu, had also been arrested. When the proceedings started, he again
moved an application for bail which was forcefully opposed by the Public
Prosecutor. The court, however, ordered his release a second time on his
own recognizance of £50, remanding the case till November 21 . A carriage
had been kept ready. Immediately he was picked up and taken

CLIMAX

391

to the point where he could join the pilgrims who were continuing to march on.

Everyone now thought that there would be no further hitch on the
part of the Government to allow the strikers' brigade to reach Tolstoy Farm
under Gandhi's watchful eye. But the actual course of events was different.
The authorities would have known that, while the pilgrims were on the move,
by depriving them of Gandhi's stewardship they were running the risk of
having a breach of peace by the strikers. Perhaps this was exactly what
the Government wanted. Some kind of rioting would have given it an
opportunity to teach the Indians a lesson that they would always remember.
Disappointed by the fact that in the face of Gandhi's arrest twice in three
days the strikers remained calm, the Government appears to have worked
out its strategy afresh.

Henry Polak had joined the caravan on November 9 at Teakworth. He
had actually come for consultations with Gandhi prior to his departure for
India in response to a call from Gokhale who needed his assistance for
representing the case of Indians in South Africa to the Viceroy and the
Secretary of State for India. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon that day, when
Gandhi and Polak, walking at the head of the main body of pilgrims, were
engaged in discussing something, a carriage came and stopped before them.
They were surprised to see Mr. Chamney, Principal Immigration Officer of the
Transvaal, getting down along with a police official. Within moments Gandhi
was arrested. He asked them: 'What about the marchers?' He got the briefest
possible answer: 'We shall see to that.'Gandhi was appreciative of the
compliment Mr. Chamney had paid him by coming out with only one man to
arrest him, when he himself was heading more than a battalion.

Gandhi had no time to hold any deliberations with Polak. He just
asked him to take charge and lead the pilgrims. For informing them about
his arrest, he had to take the police official's permission. The moment he
tried to advise them to remain peaceful, the officer interrupted him, pointing
out that he was now a prisoner and could not be allowed to make any
speeches. The officer was needlessly brusque. Maybe, for the Government
officials faced with over two thousand Indian labourers, their commitment
to Gandhi's creed of non-violence notwithstanding, it was not too pleasant
a sight to be prolonged. As soon as they were in the carriage, the officer
asked the coachman to go on at full speed. First, Gandhi was taken to
Heidelberg and kept there for the night. The next day he was taken by rail
to Dundee where he was to be tried on the charge of inducing indentured
labourers to leave the province of Natal. The trial at Dundee took place on
November 11 . Gandhi pleaded guilty, explaining in his statement that in
view of wh3t had been agreed upon between Smuts and Gokhale with
regard to the £3 tax, it was his moral duty to produce a strong enough
demonstration to back his demand for abolition of the levy. He was
sentenced to a fine of £60 or nine months' imprisonment with hard labour.
He elected to go to jail. His parting advice was that the strike must not be
called off until the £3 tax was withdrawn.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Gandhi's long term of imprisonment caused the strike by plantation
labourers in the coastal sugar districts in Southern Natal to gain greater
momentum. He himself had been in two minds as to whether the strike
should be confined to the coalfield area or include the southern workers.
The strike, towards the end of October, had on its own started spreading to
the south like a forest fire. Within a fortnight it had blown up into a conflagration
far more serious than the one witnessed up north in the coalfields. The
number of workers affected in the south was much greater — over 1 5,000
with concentrations as large as 2,000. No leadership had been inducted
from outside. The leaders who emerged locally were not in all cases able to
control the movement. Many of the coastal workers left the plantations and
surged into the nearest townships. By this time, the Government had given
up its policy of minimum intervention that had been adopted at the beginning
of the strike in the hope that it would automatically fizzle out. Smuts' early
optimism was based on the calculation that, after the NIC's split, it would
not be possible for Gandhi and his associates to muster the requisite financial
resources to sustain the movement long enough. He had not considered
the fact that apart from the help coming from India, eventually the Transvaal
and Natal merchants would not allow the striking labourers to be starved
into submission.

Immediately after Gandhi's arrest on November 9, the pilgrims from
Newcastle had resumed their march under Henry Polak's direction and reached
Greylingstad, where they were to spend the night. Sheth A.M. Cachalia and
Sheth Amod Bhayat who had learnt that the whole column marching to the
Tolstoy Farm was on the verge of being arrested also arrived there to prepare
the marchers for going to jail. When they approached Balfour at about 9
o'clock the following morning, they were taken by the police straight to the
railway station where three special trains were ready to carry them back to
Natal. The first reaction of the strikers was to ask for Gandhibhai's presence:
they had said that they would gladly board the trains if he advised them to do
so. Mr. Chamney had to seek the help of Polak and Cachalia who somehow
persuaded the pilgrims to entrain peacefully. The hardships experienced by
them during the march paled before that journey by rail which was a real
torment. Anyhow, the authorities in Natal lost no time in prosecuting them
and sending them to jail.

Mr. Chamney was very thankful to Henry Polak for the assistance
he had rendered him at Balfour. The latter had no further responsibility as
regards the strikers. He thought he could now return to Durban and sail
for India, little knowing that the Union Government would somehow prevent
him from going there and joining hands with Gokhale who had already
created a furore about the happenings in South Africa. Before he could
get back to Durban he was put under arrest along with Kallenbach

CLIMAX

393

who also had incurred the Union Government's displeasure as one of Gandhi's

principal lieutenants. Both of them were consigned to Volksrust jail.

***

After his trial at Dundee, Gandhi was to face another trial at
Volksrust on a charge of causing entry of prohibited persons into the
Transvaal. He was taken there on November 1 3. He felt happy to be with
Kallenbach and Polak in the jail. Gandhi appeared before the court on
November 14. Though he pleaded guilty, the court here did not like to
convict him without corroboratory evidence. It was difficult for the police
to produce a passive resister for this purpose. Gandhi himself arranged
for one such person to come and testify against him. In his own statement
he admitted that he advised not only the witness but hundreds of other
Indians to cross the border from Natal into the T ransvaal after giving due
notice. In doing so his only object was to demonstrate against the £3
tax. Nothing could be farther from his wish than that any one of those
men who crossed the border should remain in the Transvaal and settle
there. The proceedings concluded the same day and the magistrate
passed a sentence of three months' imprisonment. The cases against
Kallenbach and Polak were decided on November 15 and 17 respectively,
both of them getting three months each.

Gandhi had the pleasure of spending a few days in Volksrust jail in the
company of his closest friends. This was the time when satyagraha movement
gained new impetus. The newly convicted Indian prisoners came to this jail
almost every day and brought with them news of what was happening outside.
One of the newcomers, Harbatsingh, was an old man of seventy-five, not
even subject to the £3 tax. When Gandhi asked him why he had courted
arrest, he replied: 'How could I help it, when you, your wife, and even your
boys went to gaol for our sake?'

Gandhi : But you will not be able to endure the hardships of jail life.

Shall I arrange for your release?

Harbatsingh : No, please. I will never leave the jail like that. I must die one
of these days and how happy should I be to die in jail!

This chivalrous septuagenarian had a martyr's death during imprisonment
early in January 1914.

The Government did not take long to come to the conclusion that
Gandhi must be separated from Kallenbach and Polak. He was first moved to
Maritzburg and soon thereafter transferred to the capita! of Orangia, where no
Indian could meet him. The authorities had thus isolated the strikers' chief
prompter.

Gandhi at this time had all the solitude he wanted, in a suffocating
small room in the Bloemfontein jail. He spent much of his time studying Tamil.

394

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

The medical officer who had become friendly with him managed to provide
him the fruit diet according to his needs. The kindly doctor, however, found it
impossible to persuade the obdurate jail warden not to lock the cell so that
his favourite prisoner could open the doors and let in some breeze. Except
for this particular inconvenience, Gandhi's experience during this period of
imprisonment was much better, both in the matter of courtesy and the care
received by him, than on earlier occasions. The Union Government had probably
realised that Gandhi was not an ordinary political prisoner. The consideration
shown to him was in complete contrast to the atrocious manner in which
most of the other prisoners were dealt with. The whole community was
indignant at the harrowing tales of unparalleled cruelty and ill treatment told
by passive resisters, including ladies, when they came out on expiry of their
terms. Some of them had felt compelled to go on hunger strike in protest
against the needless sufferings inflicted on them.

The authorities had devised a novel plan to cut out expenditure on the
maintenance of coalfield strikers undergoing imprisonment and to prevent
closure of mines. After fencing the mine compounds with wire netting, the
Government declared them as outstations to the Dundee and Newcastle
jails. Tne company overseers were to function as warders. Mining work by
way of hard labour was imposed on the prisoners. The whole thing looked
brilliant from the Government's point of view, but it did not work. The labourers
simply refused to go into the mines even though they were savagely whipped,
kicked and abused.

Elsewhere even the pretence of legality was abandoned . As soon as
the labourers stopped work, physical force was used to prevent them from
doing so. Mounted military policemen prowled after the strikers, trying to
force them back to work. At a few places the labourers put up resistance
against such coercion. Some of them even hurled stones on the assaulters
Wherever there was the slightest disturbance, it was put down by force of
arms. The police could always claim that they had acted in self-defence. By
this common logic of brutality, at least ten Indians got killed: many more
were wounded; and yet the labourers refused to be cowed down.

The strikers on the north coast found it easier to hold out because of
the support they received from Phoenix. They came to the farm in hundreds.
Some of them took shelter there. Others were content with advice from
Maganlal and Albert West. The latter, apart from his responsibilities as the
acting editor of Indian Opinion, had a crucial role to play, reporting all that
was happening in South Africa to Gokhale in India. He had, therefore, become
anathema to the Government. The intention of the Indian camp was to avoid
any occasion for his imprisonment. Despite all possible care in that regard,
he was put under arrest by the police and charged with harbouring indentured
labourers in Phoenix. It was on getting this news that Gokhale arranged for C.F.
Andrews to leave for South Africa post haste.

When the stories about the reign of terror let loose against Indians in
South Africa reached their countrymen at home, almost all cities staged

CLIMAX

395

protest meetings in which leading persons with varied political affiliations
participated. For the first time Indian women came out into the open and
joined the demonstrations on this issue. The people of India rendered whatever
assistance they could to sustain the resistance movement, with Gokhale
playing a pivotal role. Apart from mobilising public opinion in the country, he
kept the Government of India as well as Whitehall under constant pressure
regarding their responsibility in the matter.

Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy of India then, had rightly sensed that
the country was fast getting into an awkward mood and this problem
could not be glossed over any further. Some people had told him that
'there had been no movement like it since the Mutiny.' Once he had realised
that the matter needed immediate tackling, he was not a man to remain
inert. Straightaway he cabled to Lord Gladstone, Governor-General of the
Union of South Africa, to urge upon his Government how wrong it was to
employ questionable methods in dealing with the strike. The case that
Pretoria made out was: the stories regarding atrocities committed in South
Africa were invented in India; the passive resistance and strike in Natal
had been engineered from the same source and that it was a part of the
conspiracy between Gandhi and Gokhale to undermine the British Raj.
Lord Hardinge did not take these allegations seriously. He could see that
protests made by him were having no impact on the persons who held the
reins of government in South Africa. He was as much exasperated by the
attitude adopted by he Union Government as by inaction on the part of the
Dominions Office Lord Hardinge later acknowledged that this feeling 'came
to a boiling point' when he read some of the telegrams recounting the
sufferings of the Indians in South Africa on his journey to Madras in the
third week of November 1 91 3.

At Madras, the Viceroy received over ten deputations from different
bodies. In one of his speeches on November 23, he explained at length the
action taken by the Government of India about the South Africa problem that
was agitating the minds of the people. Referring to the satyagraha movement,
he affirmed that the passive resisters had 'the sympathy of India — deep and
burning — and not only of India but all those like myself without being Indian
themselves have feelings of sympathy for the people of this country.' About
the latest happenings, he expressed his awareness of the fact that the passive
resistance movement had been dealt with in South Africa 'by measures which
would not for a moment be tolerated in any country that claims to call itself
civilized.' This speech acted like magic on the Indian people at home and
abroad. It immediately relieved the bitterness that had been growing each
day since Gandhi's imprisonment. Those who ruled South Africa felt so mortified
that they even pressed Whitehall for Hardinge's recall. Howsoever fantastic
the suggestion was, it was seriously discussed by the British cabinet, though
the trouble such action would have caused in India was deemed too frightening.
Ultimately the Imperial Government had to induce the Pretoria regime to
consider how it could pacify the Indian community

DENOUEMENT

In his isolation at Bloemfontein, Gandhi knew nothing about any of the
happenings outside until he was released on December 18,1913 after his
sudden transfer to Pretoria. Kallenbach and Polak had also been similarly
brought there and released unconditionally. After having been set free,
they learnt that a commission headed by Sir William Solomon, the well-
known South African jurist, with two more members Edward Esselen and
Lieutenant-Colonel James S. Wylie, had been appointed by the Union
Government to go into the causes of the strike and the disturbances that
had occurred in its wake. It was on the recommendation of this commission
that Gandhi, Kallenbach and Polak had been released.

As Gandhi could see, General Smuts had been 'in the same
predicament as a snake which has taken a rat in its mouth but can neither
gulp it down nor cast it out.' The inquiry commission that had been set up,
because of the criticism which the South Africa Government had come in for
from various quarters, including the Governor-General of India, was to be
used as a device to help General Smuts withdraw from the difficult situation
in which he had landed himself. Gandhi and his two friends quickly studied
the events that had taken place during the period they were in jail. About the
commission, as already constituted, their immediate reaction was that they
could not possibly cooperate with it. The matter was discussed at a public
meeting at Johannesburg the very day the three leaders were released and it
was unanimously resolved not to tender evidence before the commission
unless its composition was changed.

The trio then moved to Durban where the Indians were scheduled to
meet on December 21, 1913 and discuss the new situation under the
auspices of the Natal Indian Association. Gandhi appeared at this meeting
dressed like an indentured labourer. The clothes he had put on symbolised
the distress with which he had learnt that the latest phase of the struggle
led by him had involved the loss of numerous lives. He imagined to himself
'how glorious it would have been if one of those bullets had struck him
also.' Momentarily he was smitten by a serious doubt whether it was right
on his part to have advised the labourers to go on strike. Though on more
careful thought he could discard his sense of guilt, he strongly felt that he
should go into mourning until the struggle which had involved so many
casualties came to an end. The dress he had temporarily adopted was
one form of expression of his sorrow. In addition, he had undertaken to
restrict himself to one meal a day.

DENOUEMENT

397

In the light of resolutions passed at Johannesburg and Durban, Gandhi,
Kallenbach and Polak addressed a long letter to the Minister of Interior
putting forward their objections to the constitution of the commission of inquiry:
the Indian community had not been given the opportunity of nominating one
or more members who could speak on its behalf; appointment of Edward
Esselen and J.S. Wylie, known for their anti-Asiatic views, as members of
the commission had imparted to it a partisan character. Having pointed this
out, they proposed that Sir James Rose-lnnes and W.P. Schreiner, reputed
to be free from anti-Asiatic bias, should be put in as members of the
commission. They also asked for the release of passive resisters who were
undergoing imprisonment, whether in the ordinary prisons or in mining
compounds turned into jails. If these two conditions were fulfilled, they were
prepared to collect and tender evidence before the commission and advise
the community to suspend passive resistance pending completion of the
inquiry. This offer was based on the assumption that the commission would
investigate all the grievances that had caused the revival of passive resistance
and make its recommendations to the Government. It was, however, affirmed
that whilst the finding of the commission, enlarged in the manner suggested,
would finally settle the dispute as to the allegations of ill-treatment of workers
and others and the acts committed by the armed forces in dealing with the
movement, its recommendations on the basic grievances would be accepted
by the community only if they were in conformity with its demands. This rider
was in keeping with the concluding note of warning that if the Government
was not ready to accept these terms the Indian community would feel
compelled to continue the struggle.

Within three days Gandhi and his two friends received a reply from the
Government rejecting their proposals. Gandhi at once proclaimed that a group
of Indians would launch another march from Durban to Pretoria on January 1 ,
1914 with a view to courting imprisonment. Even now Gandhi was not averse
to exploring the possibilities of a compromise if it could be arrived at on
reasonable terms. One sentence in the Government's reply, The Commission
was intended to be impartial and judicial in character, and in constituting it
the Government consulted neither the Indian community nor the coal[mine]-
owners and Sugar Planters' Association...', led Gandhi to believe that the
position was not irretrievable. He, therefore, sent another telegram to the
Minister of Interior, more conciliatory in its tone, asking for an interview with
General Smuts to be able to put up certain suggestions which might help
resolve the deadlock.

Gokhale had received every bit of information from Gandhi regarding
whatever had transpired between him and the Union Government. When
he learnt that Indians in South Africa had pledged themselves to boycott
the commission and that Gandhi had planned for another march, he
immediately made it known to him that such a step would not only be
embarrassing but impolitic too. Lord Hardinge was as anxious as Gokhale
that the chances of a peaceful settlement should not be lost by refusing to

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

cooperate with the commission. The Viceroy had deputed Sir Benjamin
Robertson to go over to South Africa as his envoy and present the case to the
Inquiry Commission on behalf of the Government of India.

Numerous cables had passed between Gandhi and Gokhale, the
latter emphatically stressing that a boycott of the commission would be a
serious tactical mistake in so far as it would involve foregoing an opportunity,
secured with great difficulty to state the Indian case before the whole world.
It was also likely to alienate from the cause many of its supporters. 'Gandhi
had no business', he said, 'to take a vow and tie himself up. This is politics
and compromise is its essence.' Gandhi was equally vehement in justifying
the stand that, according to him, had been spontaneously taken by the
Indian community even before he came out of jail. After his release he had
carefully studied the prevailing mood of his countrymen and the rationale
behind their viewpoint before undertaking to uphold it. Ultimately when
Gokhale found that Gandhi was too deeply committed to his plan of action
to be deflected from it, he asked for a clear-cut enunciation of his case
which Gandhi sent to him on December 29, 1913 in a cablegram, nearly
500-words long. On its receipt, the latter issued a public statement
wholeheartedly supporting Gandhi's standpoint. Gokhale had, however,
obtained from Gandhi a definite promise that he would not revive the struggle,
if he must, till Sir Benjamin had had at least one week after his arrival in
South Africa. Hardinge had pinned high hopes on the part to be played by
his official representative. But it was C.F. Andrews, Gokhale's personal
emissary, who was to take on the most critical role.

Accompanied by W.W. Pearson, Andrews landed at Durban on January
2, 1 91 4. Gandhi, Kallenbach and Polak were waiting at the dock to receive
him and his friend. During his two visits to India, Polak had known Andrews
quite intimately. They greeted each other with great warmth. Polak, then,
introduced him to Gandhi, 'a slight ascetic figure, dressed in a white dhoti
and kurta of such coarse material as an indentured labourer might wear.' Andrews
instinctively bent down and touched Gandhi's feet. It was a spontaneous
gesture of obeisance shown by the highly respected English missionary and
teacher to a person, almost his own age, he had never met before but about
whom he had learnt a great deal from Gokhale and Polak. This scene did not
go unnoticed. One editor considered it his duty to record his protest, staunchly
deploring the way Andrews had conducted himself and pointing out that this
sort of thing was just not done in Natal. Some people reminded him not to
forget the effect his behaviour would have on the native population.

**★

In the meantime, Gandhi had been in communication with the
Government. About the composition of the commission, he had modified
his demand to the extent that of the two additional members one could

DENOUEMENT

399

be nominated by the Indian community and the other by the employers of
Indian labour Another alternative proposed by him was that the commission
might consist of only one member, Sir William Solomon. The second proposal
was, from the Government's point of view, open to lesser objection. The matter,
however, was further complicated because of Sir William Soiomon having
expressed his disinclination to go ahead with the work assigned to him in the
face of a boycott of the commission by the Indian community. In his despatch
of December 31 , 1 91 3 to the Colonial Office, the Governor-General of South
Africa had observed: 'Possibly if General Smuts and Mr. Gandhi meet, their
combined ingenuity may succeed in discovering someway out of the difficulty.'

Officially the Minister of Interior had, in his telegram of January 5,
1914 declined to accept either of the two proposals made by Gandhi, but he
had left room for further negotiation. Meanwhile, Gandhi had had heart-to-
heart talks with C.F. Andrews. The latter, having just arrived on the scene,
was in a position to look at things more objectively. Within a couple of days
they had discovered their spiritual kindship: this was the beginning of a life¬
long friendship. As for Pearson, leaving Andrews free to play his role as
Gandhi's partner in the tortuous political drama, he devoted himself to a
close study of Indian labour employed in the Natal sugarcane plantations.

Andrews had informed Gandhi of Gokhale's delicate health, pointing out
how painful it would be to him if the commission was boycotted. Another
consideration that was uppermost in Andrews' mind was that of political
expediency. It was important that Lord Hardinge's sympathy should not be
frittered away. As he could see, the Indian community had a strong case: not
to present it looked senseless to him. Gandhi, for his part, explained to
Andrews that what he and the people represented by him were demanding
was not something unprecedented. During the erstwhile railway crisis, the
employees had been allowed to choose their nominee to the Inquiry
Commission by referendum. What the Indian community had asked for was
only informal consultation with its representatives.

The whole issue was reviewed at great length. Andrews carefully
listened to Gandhi as well as other Indian leaders who participated in the
discussions. He was continually groping for light until Gandhi laid stress
on the fact that the Government was dead set on ignoring the Indian
sentiment. It is at this point that Andrews sparkled with a glint in his eyes
and said: 'So, it's a question of Indian honour!' Gandhi bounced back:
'Yes! Exactly so. That is the real point at issue. The acceptance of the
commission as constituted and readiness to give evidence before it would
imply submission to a frontal attack on the Indian community's self-
respect.' 'Then', said Andrews, 'I am sure you are right to take the stand.
There must be no sacrifice of honour.' If at all there was any doubt, that
was also gone.

In the midst of these preoccupations, Gandhi managed to take Andrews
to Phoenix where the latter could meet some indentured Indians who had
taken refuge there. He could not hold back his tears when he saw Gandhi

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

tenderly attending on a Tamil labourer whose shrivelled body bore the marks
of merciless beating. Again in the evening Andrews saw Gandhi nursing a
sick child, a tiny Muslim boy, and next to him a Christian Zulu girl. After
attending to this sacred task, Gandhi read some Gujarati verses about the
love of God and explained them in English. Then these Gujarati hymns were
sung by the children. At the end, when it was growing dark he asked Andrews
to sing Lead Kindly Light.

**+

Gandhi was not averse to making an earnest effort for a negotiated
settlement. In that connection he went to Pretoria along with Andrews. At
Durban itself the Station Master had given them the information that a major
railway strike was imminent. At his instance, they had taken the European
Mail instead of the Kaffir Mail which, he had said, might not go through. At
Pretoria, a newspaper correspondent greeted Gandhi cordially and said: The
railway strike is on. How do you view it?'

Gandhi : I haven't anything to do with the railway strike.

Reporter : I know, but what's your attitude towards it?

Gandhi : ! have no attitude. What attitude can we, a voteless and

neglected people, have in such a crisis?

Reporter : The point is this, are you going to take advantage of the

crisis to revive your passive resistance and join the strike?
Gandhi (thoughtfully): That has never been our policy.

Reporter

Gandhi

Reporter

Gandhi

Come on. Be frank about it. Never mind your policy in the
past; what are you going to do now? This is a golden
opportunity. Are you going to avail yourself of it?

No, certainly not. We are not out to harass the Government.
We beiieve in a clean fight. Passive resistance will be
suspended.

May I publish that?

No, there is no need to do so.

The reporter turned to Andrews and asked him to persuade his friend,
adding: There will be Martial Law within twelve hours.' Andrews had understood
what he meant. He discussed the whole thing with Gandhi. His concluding
remark was: 'Of course, you are right to suspend the struggle, but if no one
knows it beforehand, all the good effect will be lost — people will say, you did it
out of fear.' Gandhi had no answer to that. So he agreed to his statement being
published. Immediately the message was flashed, it had an electric effect all
over. Lord Ampthili cabled his congratulations from England. One of the secretaries
to General Smuts jokingly remarked: if the Indians were to take to violence like
the English strikers, it would be so simple to deal with them; the kind of chivalry their

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401

leader had shown on this occasion reduced the Government to sheer
helplessness.

It was on the morning of January 9,1914, that Gandhi and Andrews
had come to Pretoria. But General Smuts was preoccupied with the railway
strike. So he had no time for the Indian problem for some days. Andrews
applied himself to preparing the ground for fruitful negotiations when Smuts
did get free. He had known the Gladstone family in Cambridge. The Governor-
General's sister, Mrs. Dew, was in Pretoria. Thanks to her good offices,
Andrews had access to some important persons. Through these contacts it
was possible to remove some of the misunderstandings about the Indian
position. On January 1 3, he went to Lord Gladstone and they had a long talk.
Andrews explained to him the working of Gandhi's mind and the priorities he
was guided by. He was able to bring home the point that the problem could
be resolved if the minimal demands which Gandhi considered very important
were accepted by the Government. According to his despatch dated January
14,1914 to the Colonial Office, the Governor-General saw 'little difficulty in
conceding what Mr. Andrews stated Mr. Gandhi required.' He was only worried
about the fact that the Ministers would not be 'able to give unconditional
promises because the political situation might prevent giving absolute
guarantees that the remedial Act would be passed.' In general the situation,
according to him, looked hopeful. Particularly in view of Gandhi having held
his hand while the Government was faced with other difficulties, if any
concessions were now made no one could allege that the Government had
succumbed to coercion. Thus the Government was 'in a better position to
take a generous view than at any previous time.'

Andrews' quiet diplomacy had caused ripples of all-round goodwill
which could not have failed to touch General Smuts, who under the
influence of Emily Hobhouse was already inclined towards a sincere effort
for a reasonable settlement of the Indian problem. This matchless English
woman, because of the hardships braved by her in pursuit of her mission of
mercy in the service of Boers during the Anglo-Boer war, had won for
herself a place of deep affection in Smuts' heart. She was not an ordinary
family friend: she was like a fairy godmother to General Smuts. Emily had
an unshakeable faith in his goodness; but she never hesitated to pull him
up where she thought he was going wrong. Towards the close of 1 91 3 she
had come to South Africa to unveil the monument at Bloemfontein to the
memory of women who had perished in the war-time concentration camps.
Something evidently passed between her and Gandhi during this visit. On
December 27, 1 91 3 the latter had reported to Gokhale that he had received
a telegram from her asking him to suspend the march and assuring him
that she was going to intervene.

On December 29, she wrote to her 'dear Oom Jannie' (Smuts) a long
letter, explaining first why she had nourished deep sympathy for the
Indians and then urging him to settle their problem somehow so that she
could go back with a feeling that all was well and at peace in South Africa.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

She had told him point-blank that since the cause for which Gandhi
was fighting was moral, with no material gain figuring anywhere, the
governmental physical force would never be able to coerce him. She
even volunteered to act as 'a human bridge' that he could use as a medium
for threshing out an agreement with Gandhi. Smuts did not take this
offer too seriously. However, her counsel in favour of the Indian community
was not lost on him.

When the negotiations between him and Gandhi got going in mid-
January, the atmosphere was as congenial as could have been wished.
The latter went to General Smuts on January 1 6 and found him in a truly
conciliatory mood. During the succeeding four days they met a number of
times. Both of them had the benefit of consultations with C.F. Andrews
and Sir Benjamin Robertson. Gandhi had known about Robertson's good
reputation. But the manner in which he had behaved on arrival at Durban
was rather odd. Gandhi had received some telegrams from his friends
there, informing him of his overbearing manner and suggesting that he
might even cause a rift within the Indian community. So, Gandhi was
extremely business-like in dealing with Robertson. The more he saw of
him the greater was his disappointment. He found him neither strong nor
sincere. Even up to a late stage he was unable to grasp the finer points of
the Indian problem. Fortunately, Andrews also had judged him rightly.
Talking of him, he wrote to Gokhale: 'I can’t tell you the agony of not
knowing what he might do next, just at the most delicate and critical
moment. There was one safety valve; because Smuts didn't want him to
interfere any more than we did! That really saved the situation.'

Right in the beginning, Smuts as well as Gandhi had come to realise
that either party was prepared for reconciliation but without trading off on the
basic principles. The Minister was unable to accept any of Gandhi's proposals
which involved a change in the constitution of the commission or its terms
of reference. Smuts tried hard to convince him that it would be in the Indian
community's interest if its case was placed before the commission with
regard to the specific grievances on which relief was being sought.
The Government, he argued, would be in a far stronger position to steer an
enactment through the legislature, if it was based on recommendations made
by the commission. He even went to the extent of disclosing that from private
conversations with the Chairman and another member of the commission he
had gathered that such remedial legislation was going to be recommended
by them. He did not know how the third member, namely Col. Wylie, thought
about it. But if he too, despite his known anti-Indian stance, could come
round to proposing the repeal of the £3 tax, the Government's task would
become easier. For Gandhi, it was as difficult to accept this reasoning as to
dismiss it outright. The Indian community was precluded from leading evidence
before the commission, as far as questions of policy were concerned, by its
solemn pledge against doing so, as long as it had no representation on it or
it was not constituted in consultation with its representatives.

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403

Ultimately, the modus vivendi arrived at was that the Indian side
would undertake to assist Sir Benjamin Robertson who as representative
of the Viceroy was to give evidence before the commission. In coming
to this understanding, Gandhi had satisfied himself with the thought
that the discussions he was having with the Minister amounted to
acceptance of the principle of consultation. It also enabled him to agree
that he would advise his countrymen 'not to hamper the labours of the
commission by any active propaganda, and not to render the position
of the Government difficult by reviving passive resistance...' Regarding
allegations about the ill-treatment of the strikers and satyagrahis,
Gandhi on his own agreed to refrain from raking up old sores and drop
the matter altogether. To this gesture of goodwill, he added a rider that
the Government should reciprocate it by not leading evidence of a
negative character before the commission. This was agreed to by the
Government except that it reserved the right to ask the commission to
investigate a couple of shooting affrays.

On the question of relief that the Indian community was to get, the whole
thing was to be cycled through the commission before the Government was
to introduce legislative measures and take administrative action as required.
Gandhi had in his letter of January 2, 1914 to the Secretary for Interior
recapitulated the grievances, required to be redressed. The abolition of the
£3 tax and a solution to the marriage question involved going to the Parliament.
The issues pertaining to the Indians' entry into the Cape and the Orange Free
State could be resolved without legislative action. Besides these four items,
the only thing Gandhi sought was an assurance that the existing laws specially
affecting Indians would be administered justly and with due regard to long-
established interests. About the last three points, Gandhi had urged that 'the
needful relief might now be given... as an earnest of the good intentions of the
Government...' The Minister of Interior in his written reply to the aforesaid
letter did not go beyond saying that the Government would await the
recommendations of the commission, before taking any action. The only aspect
on which the Government's response was specific was the release of prisoners
who were still in jail. On other points, General Smuts, after conferring with
the Cabinet, had assured Gandhi in C.F. Andrews' presence that the Government
was willing to grant the demands in question after they had been sifted by the
commission. Thus the accord entirely rested on good faith.

On broad issues, Gandhi was prepared to rely on General Smuts'
good intentions. Where finer points involving emotional nuances were
concerned, he was far more punctilious. While the negotiations were at the
point of conclusion, Gandhi received word that Kasturba, soon after her release,
had been taken seriously ill and was in need of his attention. He was in no
mood to abandon his public duty and hurriedly get back to Durban. Everyone
expected that on January 21 his work at Pretoria would be complete and
then he would be able to leave for Natal immediately. When he did receive
Government's reply in the afternoon that day, he was not satisfied

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

with it. According to him, the letter was unsatisfactory in many respects.
What perturbed Gandhi most was the absence of response to the desire
expressed by him that the Minister should recognize the motive which
made him refrain from 'raking up old sores' by trying to prove allegations
as to the ill-treatment of the strikers. About the exact wording of the
sentence that ought to be incorporated in the letter to make good this
deficiency, Gandhi and Andrews remained lost in discussion till 1 a.m.
that night. The next morning, Andrews went to Smuts and explained to
him what Gandhi wanted and the need for quick action so that he could
feel free to go to Durban and attend on his wife. General Smuts agreed
without any hesitation to the suggestion and had the proposed sentence
inserted in the letter. Andrews, for his part, had been rather tense about
the whole thing. With the Government Secretariat just moving to Cape
Town, everything was in such confusion that he would not have been
surprised if the Minister flew into 'a furious outburst of impatience' and
dismissed the matter with some nasty, bitter remarks which Gandhi in
turn would never have passed over. Having found Smuts in a reasonable
mood, Andrews had felt relieved beyond measure.

Work to be done at Pretoria finished, Gandhi went over to
Johannesburg, sent a cable to Gokhale reporting about the understandings
arrived at and then left for Durban. Kasturba's illness was to be a source of
anxiety to him for many months. There were occasions when she was virtually
on the verge of death. He nursed her with great care. He did not, however,
allow her state of health to come in the way of his political work.His primary
task at this time was to have the provisional accord ratified by the community.
It was discussed at a mass meeting at Durban on January 25 under the
auspices of the Natal Indian Association. Putting his cards before the audience,
Gandhi made it clear that he had not in any way bound the community to
acceptance of the accord he had arrived at with General Smuts. His
countrymen were still free to dismiss the agreement if that was their wish. At
the same time he strongly commended it for acceptance because it was not
only honourable but also represented the view held by the Indian community's
well-wishers including Lord Hardinge. The gathering unanimously passed a
resolution endorsing Gandhi's action. Similar resolutions were passed at
Pretoria, Johannesburg and other centres.

There were some voices of dissent too. A few of his colleagues
argued that General Smuts had played him false earlier and there was no
guarantee that he would not do it again. Their point was that revival of
passive resistance repeatedly involved a lot more suffering than a decisive
fight once for all. Gandhi never felt tired of explaining to his critics that a
true satyagrahi, no matter how often he was betrayed, would
continue to 'repose his trust in the adversary so long as there are not
cogent grounds for distrust.' As far as this particular accord was concerned,
with C.F. Andrews and Sir Benjamin Robertson witnesses to it, the
Government would not be able to violate it too easily.

DENOUEMENT

405

Some others pointed out that besides the issues covered by the
accord there were grievances pertaining to property rights, trading licenses
and franchise, etc. One person wrote to him: This is, indeed, a rare time for
you, the like of which will not recur. Circumstances will never again favour
you with a similar opportunity ... Nothing, therefore, should be left out from
the full citizenship rights which are to be achieved, so that our people may
not have to endure hardships again.' Gandhi's answer to this was that the
Indian community did not yet have the strength to wrest all these rights in
one go. The assurance from the Government that the relevant laws would
be reasonably administered would enable the community to acquire such
strength in course of time.

For a few weeks Gandhi was busy pouring balm on the frayed tempers
of the more explosive among his opponents. Andrews was then getting ready
for his passage to England where he was to spend some time with his old
mother. It became necessary for him to hurry up when he learnt that she had
passed away. Before his departure from Cape Town, Gandhi had arranged for
him a short tour in Natal with Manilal accompanying as his secretary. By this
time he had gained a deeper insight into the South African reality. His contact
with Emily Hobhouse had been of great help in this regard.

***

The inquiry commission was already at work. Although Sir Benjamin
Robertson tried hard to induce Indian settlers to tender evidence, very few of
them appeared before the commission. It was, therefore, able to conclude its
proceedings without much delay. Its report was presented to the Government
in early March. While criticising the Indians for withholding their cooperation
and, for want of concrete evidence, the commission had dismissed the charges
of brutality. As far as the substantive issues were concerned, it had
recommended acceptance of all the demands of the Indian community.
Robertson returned to India happy with the fulfilment of his mission. Most
people in the Indian camp reacted to the report favourably. Gandhi himself
was satisfied. Some of the Mohammedans, who wanted polygamy to be
given legal recognition, were not, however, happy with the proposals pertaining
to the marriage problem.

The Union Government accepted the reforms proposed by the
Solomon Commission. The Indian Relief Bill meant to carry out the
recommendations requiring legislative action was published on May 28,
1914. Within less than a month it was rushed through both the Houses. The
declared object of this enactment was to redress some grievances and to
remove certain disabilities of His Majesty's Indian subjects in the Union.
One important part of the Act dealt with the question of Indian marriages
and their registration. Among other things, it validated all matrimonial unions
solemnised according to the tenets of the religion professed by the persons
concerned. If, however, a man had more wives than one, only one

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

of them was to be recognized as his legal wife in South Africa. The Act
contained a provision for abolition of the annual license, costing £3, required
to be obtained by every ex-indentured Indian labourer who, instead of returning
to India on expiry of his contract, chose to settle in the country. One of the
sections provided for the grant of a free passage to those Indians and their
dependents who were willing to surrender their rights of domicile in South
Africa. This concession, meant to encourage the return of Indian settlers to
their own country, was truly in the nature of an antidote against further growth
of Indian population in South Africa that might be caused by the abolition of
the £3 tax. Incidentally the new law also simplified in some measure the
procedure for holders of the certificates of domicile in Natal to re-enter the
Union.

The issues not covered by the Relief Act were to be dealt with by
administrative action on the basis of provisional accord between Smuts and
Gandhi. The latter had an exclusive discussion about it with the Minister on
June 27. In the light of the understanding reached between them, E.M. Gorges,
Secretary for Interior, addressed to Gandhi on June 30 a letter containing a
lucid statement of the action the Government was to take on different points.
The Indian community found it satisfactory in all respects. The existing practice
in respect of South Africa-born Indians who sought entry into the Cape province
was to continue so long as the number of such persons approximated to
what it was in the past. Even on the question of allowing existing plural wives
and their children to join their husbands (or fathers) in South Africa, Gandhi
obtained an assurance that no difficulty would be raised by the Government
if, on enquiry, it was found that the number of such cases was very small. It
was also agreed that Gandhi would submit to the Minister of Justice a list of
persons who had been convicted of bona fide passive resistance offences at any
time, and that their convictions would not be used by the Government against
such persons in future. These and other assurances in conjunction with the
legislative action which had been taken were subject to the understanding
that the settlement would be accepted as complete and final by the Indian
community.

The same day Gandhi gave a reply to the Secretary for Interior, saying
unequivocally that the passage of the Relief Act and the Government letter of
June 30 had brought the passive resistance struggle to a final close. To this
affirmation Gandhi added a rider, innocent-looking but none the less meaningful.
After enumerating the problems about which the Indian community was still
dissatisfied, he made it clear that in due course these issues would require
'further and sympathetic consideration' by the Government. He concluded
this addendum on a futuristic note:

... Complete satisfaction cannot be expected until full civic rights

have been conceded to the resident Indian population. I have told my

countrymen that they will have to exercise patience and by all

honourable means at their disposal educate public opinion so as to

DENOUEMENT

407

enable the Government of the day to go further than the present
correspondence does. I shall hope that, when the Europeans of
South Africa fully appreciate the fact that now, as the importation
of indentured labour from India is prohibited and as the
Immigrants Regulation Act of last year has in practice all but
stopped further free Indian immigration and that my countrymen
do not aspire to any political ambitions, they, the Europeans,
will see the justice and, indeed, the necessity of my countrymen
being granted the rights I have just referred to.

Meanwhile, if the generous spirit that the Government have applied
to the treatment of the problem during the past few months
continues to be applied, as promised in your letter, in the
administration of existing laws, I am quite certain that the Indian
community throughout the Union will be able to enjoy some
measure of peace and never be a source of trouble to the
Government.

This statement driving home the truth that there were many other points
standing over 'for adjustment at some future date' was so judiciously
worded that the Government could not look at it as a departure from the
terms of settlement. In effect, it ensured prevention of an immediate clamour
for further concessions, leaving the door open for a renewal of the struggle if
the other reforms did not come through within a reasonable time.

ADIEU

Gandhi had assured Gokhale that he would get back to India on
completion of his immediate task in South Africa. It was only after the
conclusion of the gentlemen's agreement between him and Smuts on
January 21, 1914 that he was in a position to plan on carrying out this
promise. C.F. Andrews could not have been unaware of it: and yet in his
letter of January 30, 1 91 4, he spared no effort to impress upon Gokhale
how urgently necessary it was for Gandhi to leave for India: 'His work in
South Africa is done — nobly done ... if he stays on he will dwarf everyone
else and there will be no leaders here for at least another generation ....
Let this honourable settlement be reached and then immediately without
a moment's delay let him go to India and be with you ... It is pitiful to see
him here at work. He does everything ... and the people simply get to
lean on him more and more and the selfish ones take advantage of his
goodness ... again and again lately he has acted or thought hastily... He
has made the noblest fight for truth... and I cannot bear to think that it
should all end in some great and huge mistake made in haste...' To
reinforce his argument, Andrews cited the view held by some of Gandhi's
closest friends: 'Everyone here says he is played out. Polak, Kallenbach,
Ritch, etc. — all say the same. He must go, both for his own sake and
for the community.'

Towards the end of February, Gandhi wrote to Gokhale that, in the
event of the final settlement coming through in March, he proposed to
leave for India in April. The kind of work he would undertake on arrival
there had been entirely left to Gokhale. It was, however, clear to him
that his own motherland was going to be his real karma-bhumi (land of
duty), though only after a period of apprenticeship under someone whom
he could 'love and look up to.'

Gandhi remained stuck in South Africa till the end of June 1914,
when exchange of two momentous letters between him and the Secretary
for Interior at last brought his labours in South Africa to a good finish. The
very next day he wrote to Gokhale, in U.K. at that time struggling with his
shattered health, that he would try to sail for England by July 1 8. His intention
was to spend some time there to have consultation with his political guru
before proceeding to India.

In the next two weeks and a half Gandhi was busy taking leave of his
friends, attending receptions and farewell functions, addressing political

ADIEU

409

gatherings and in between writing for Indian Opinion . Much of what he
said or wrote during this period provides a good feel of the state of affairs
on the eve of his departure from South Africa.

For many years Gandhi had lamented that, anti-Indian pressures from
the side of white settlers apart, the political bosses themselves were not
free from racial prejudice against the Indian community. He was now able to
say that General Botha and Smuts had changed their attitude. For the sake of
Indians, the Prime Minister had threatened to resign if the Relief Bill was not
passed. In General Smuts too he had observed a complete break with the
past. The words that Smuts had so often repeated during the negotiations still
rang in his ears: 'Gandhi, this time we want no misunderstanding, we want no
mental or other reservations, let all the cards be on the table, and I want you to
tell me wherever you think that a particular passage or word does not read in
accordance with your own reading.' Even among the politicians not directly
connected with the Government, Gandhi had noticed a new perception of the
Indian problem. What pleased him most was the change he had observed in
the thinking of the white colonists in general. Many a time, during his rail
journeys, Europeans who were complete strangers, would smilingly come
forward to congratulate him for what they considered was a great victory.

All this was at the back of Gandhi's mind when he wrote in Indian
Opinion dated July 8,1914: The struggle that went on for eight years has
come to an end, and such an end as ... hardly any other movement in modern
times has been crowned with.' It was not the tangible gain which Gandhi
considered so important as the transformation that had been brought about
by satyagraha among the Europeans as well as members of the Indian
community. During the epic march of the strikers into the Transvaal, he had
on many occasions been deeply moved by the little acts of kindness on the
part of common folk among the white settlers. At one place a woman who ran
a small store placed everything she had at Gandhi's disposal. Finding him
hesitant to accept her offer she pleaded: 'Though you are all Indians, you are
suffering and I hope I have enough of the old British sense of sympathy left in
me to help you.'

What Gandhi found still more impressive was the new consciousness
that the passive resistance movement had generated among the colonial-
born Indians, mostly poor, who had so long been dealt with unfeelingly by
the more affluent sections of the Indian community, if the satyagraha
campaign had been a magnificent success, it was mainly due to the
sacrifices made by them. A large number of them, including some women,
had courted imprisonment and had gone through suffering in various other
ways. The most heart-rending part of the story had started with Nagappen's
death caused by the ill-treatment meted out to him in jail. No less appalling
was the way Narayanswami lost his life as a result of hardships of
deportation. The last among the colonial-born Indians to make an
uncommon sacrifice was Valiamma Moonswamy, a young girl still in her
teens. She had joined the passive resistance struggle in October 1913.

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Ultimately she was prosecuted for crossing the Transvaal border on December
22,1913 and punished with three months' imprisonment with hard labour.
She was discharged on February 11 ,191 4 according to the terms of the accord,
but this came about when she was already at the point of death because of
a prolonged illness in jail. On February 22 she was no more. Her tragic end
could not be easily forgotten by Indians.

Gandhi looked at the martyrdom of Nagappen, Narianswamy, Valiamma
and the grand old Harbat Singh as an awesome peak of self-sacrifice rising
above the large plateau of sufferings gone through by thousands of passive
resisters. He talked of it repeatedly during his speeches at farewell meetings
and every time he did so, his heart was full of anguish. The only solace was
that the eight-year-long struggle had at last borne fruit, part of it substantive
and a lot more of it not quite manifest, but valuable none the less. This is
what Gandhi and the overwhelming majority of his countrymen in South Africa
believed, but a good number of Gujarati traders among them were dissatisfied
with the settlement arrived at with the Government. Initially they were not
very vociferous about it. A couple of days before Gandhi was scheduled to
leave for England, a special meeting was convened by them at the Hamidia
Islamic Society Hall, Vrededorp at Johannesburg. Essop Ismail Mia who
presided at the meeting was in an ugly mood. He was joined by H.O. Ally.
They not only criticised the agreement reached with the Government, but
also raised various other issues, not even hesitating to demand from Gandhi
an explanation as to how the money placed at his disposal had been spent.
The virulent manner in which the agreement was being denounced and the
malice with which he was being personally arraigned could have enraged any
other person in his place. He kept himself calm and answered every point raised
with the utmost patience.

One question posed to him was on whose authority he had made the
settlement in question with the Government. His simple answer was that
the demands of the Indian community in South Africa had been put forward in
A.M. Cachalia's letter of September 12, 1913 to the Secretary for Interior.
Gandhi had carried on the negotiations keeping these demands in view. When
he found that he was getting everything that had been demanded, he did not
consider it necessary to obtain a fresh mandate.

The next question was: what had they gained out of the settlement?
Gandhi's reply was: they had gained everything they had asked for and
that too 'in the most liberal manner.' The points made in Mr. Cachalia's
letter were the marriage question, the £3 tax, removal of racial bar disfiguring
the Immigration Act in so far as it pertained to the Orange Free State,
maintenance of the rights existing prior to the passing of the Act regarding
entry into the Cape province, and justice in the administration of existing
iaws. Gandhi argued that they had got what they wanted on all these
points, and a little more. But what had the merchants gained? Gandhi
told them that the merchants had gained everything that the community
had gained. The greatest gain was redemption of their honour.

ADIEU

411

They did not feel satisfied with this answer What they resented was non¬
recognition of polygamy. Gandhi had brought the Government to the point
of tolerating it, as distinct from legalising it.

Gandhi conceded that there were many grievances that remained
unredressed. But all those issues were beyond the declared scope of the
passive resistance movement. The trouble with those who criticised the
Gandhi-Smuts settlement was that they did not have a clear view of the
course the Indian passive resistance movement had taken from the time of
its inception in 1906 to its climax in 1913. To start with, the only issue
covered by it was the Asiatic Registration Act in the Transvaal. While the
struggle against the Black Act was on, the Immigration Act was passed. The
movement was conditionally suspended, following the compromise effected
on January 30,1 908. The Government failed to honour its commitment. When
the movement was revived, its scope was enlarged to cover the combined
effect of the Immigration Act and the Registration law. Anew issue was thus
added: that there should be no racial discrimination in the Immigration Act.
The struggle was prolonged to an unforeseeable extent. The problem originally
created by a law passed in the Transvaal had ultimately to be solved by the
Union Government. The satyagrahis took the stand that they could not accept
a legislation which, though it might resolve their original problem, should
endanger the rights of other people. Accordingly, a condition was included in
the provisional settlement of 1911 to the effect that the existing rights of
Indians in all parts of the Union should be left untouched. There was no
decision for a long time. Gokhale came to South Africa in 1912. The
Government gave him a promise that £3 tax would be abolished. Meanwhile,
the Searle Judgment raised the marriage question. This also entailed the
loss of existing rights. In 1913 the Government carried through the
Immigration Act in the face of Indian protest. It conceded much, but also
denied a few things. This led to the resumption of satyagraha. The demands
put forward at this stage had to be logically related to the course of events
since 1 906. The Government having conceded these particular demands,
the struggle came to an end.

Gandhi wanted the Indian community to understand these facts. Most
people were in agreement with him. As regards those who thought it proper
to oppose him at this juncture when he was ready to go back to India after
having served their cause for so many years, the best he could do was to put
everything before them. The pettiness to which they had stooped when they
raised the question of funds notwithstanding, Gandhi patiently explained to
them with what meticulous care accounts had been maintained. He was
leaving behind all the books with Henry Polak and his critics could at any
time obtain from him whatever details they required.

Even in the face of such acrimony Gandhi was not for a moment inclined
to view public work with the slightest touch of cynicism. The equanimity
with which he dealt with his censors was one positive proof of the success
with which he had translated into practice the lessons imbibed from the

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Bhagavad Gita. He had said in one of his speeches about this time: 'Whenever
I am honoured, S feel my atman is exposed to danger. Whenever, on the
contrary, I am attacked or insulted, I realise my imperfections and a new light
dawns on me.'

In the last half-year of his South Africa period, it fell to Gandhi's lotto
experience some of the severest mental shocks and agonies of his life. The
harrowing denigration by his critics he was faced with, while the political
drama in which he had played a heroic part was coming to a satisfactory
conclusion, has already been described. His other woes were still more
heart-breaking.

One of the inmates at Phoenix was Dr. Pranjivan Mehta's daughter
Jayakunwar (nicknamed Jeki). She had been drawn towards the ideals on
which the community life at this settlement was based. Naturally, Gandhi
considered it his duty to look after her with special care. He had a hand in
arranging her marriage with Manilal Doctor, who occupied an important place
in the public life of Mauritius. When he later migrated to Fiji, Jeki had remained
in Phoenix. For some time, she had lived at the Tolstoy Farm. Along with many
others she had taken active part in the iast phase of the satyagraha movement.
St appears that around this time she had developed freindship with Gandhi’s
second son Manilal. Soon after all the prisoners had been released and when
life at Phoenix was returning to normal, the settlers there got wind of the affair
between Jeki and Manilal. One day Mrs. Henry Polak, finding Gandhi in low
spirits, asked him what he was troubled about. He mournfully replied: The
worst has happened.' The worst!’ Mrs. Polak exclaimed, What do you mean?'

Gandhi
Mrs. Polak
Gandhi
Mrs. Polak
Gandhi
Mrs Polak

Gandhi
Mrs. Polak
Gandhi

What has come to pass is dreadful.

But what is it? Please tell me what has happened.

Manilal and Jeki are guilty of adultery.

That is indeed terrible! Are you sure it is true?

Only too true. She has confessed everything.

Still, I don't quite understand. How could it happen? I thought
you knew how she spent all her time.

I thought I knew her well, but it seems I did not.

Has it been going on for long?

Yes, for quite some time; some weeks, at least.

Gandhi and Mrs. Polak sat silent for a few minutes, both looking
perplexed. The latter felt worried over what would happen when this sordid
news went around.

Gandhi : Several people already knew it. Many others could smell it.

I seem to be almost the only one quite ignorant of what
was going on around me. Now what am I to say to her
family? I am answerable to them.

ADIEU

413

Mrs. Polak : But surely you are not blaming yourself for what has

happened. Or, are you? How could you possibly have
forestalled such a thing?

Gandhi : Whom else should I blame, if not myself? I must have

neglected something. The responsibility must fall on me.

Mrs. Polak thought differently. She was feeling indignant over the fact that
Jeki who had received such loving care from Gandhi should have betrayed
him so badly. She did not feel the same way about Manilal who was younger
than Jeki and knew little about sex. She looked at it as a case of deliberate
seduction on her part.

Mrs. Polak : I hope she has not conceived.

Gandhi : No, thank God!

Mrs. Polak : Well, that is something to be thankful for. It is, indeed,

dreadful enough without that.

This affliction, coming after what Gandhi and Kasturba had gone through
because of Harilal, broke their hearts.

The state of Kasturba's health, cause of concern for long, had become a
lot more serious after her term of imprisonment. For some time she lay hanging
between life and death. The physician's treatment did not agree with her at all.
Gandhi had to spend much of his time by her side, acting as nurse as well as
doctor. Besides tending her body, he had to free her from the fear of death. Even
when she was a little better, no one could say when she would leave her bed, if
at all. Gandhi had prepared himself mentally for whatever might happen.

Kasturba was still in delicate health when it became necessary for Gandhi
towards the middle of February 1 91 4 to go to Cape Town where he was to keep in
touch with the course of events during the next few weeks. He thought it proper to
take his wife with him. He could not have left Manilal at Phoenix while Jeki was
there. So he too was made to go along with them to the Cape. The party also
included Jamnadas, one of Manilal's cousins for whom Gandhi had great affection.

Gandhi was on his way to Cape Town, when he learnt that L.W.
Ritch had, under pressure of debt, misappropriated a sum of £500 out of
public funds and had vanished. Gandhi had always been conscious of the
sacrifices that his European disciples (friends to him) had undergone for
furtherance of the cause around which his own life had revolved. Amongst
them he had never lost sight of the difficult circumstances in which Ritch
was placed. He had, therefore, been helping him in every possible manner
and had passed on a large part of his law practice to him. Even now he
would have liked to clear his debts. The news about this ignominious
conduct on his part came to Gandhi as an unbearable shock. Kallenbach
was one person with whom he could share his anguish. He wrote to him:
'What a tragedy! I do feel like taking you away and both of us escaping to

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

the jungle. What a snare and delusion this wretched civilization is! — in
the midst of which you and I are still living and the bitter fruit of which we
are still tasting. Woe to us, if we tarry in it a minute longer than may be
absolutely necessary. Do wind up your affairs and flee from the tyrant whilst
yet there is time.'

On reaching Cape Town, Gandhi, Kasturba and the two youngmen
accompanying them, all stayed at Dr. J.H. Gool's place. The Gools, having
the deepest regard for Gandhi, were not only affluent but very sociable too.
The hospitality extended to the guests was so generous and warm that
everyone of them at once felt at home. Gandhi did not fail to notice that in
spite of the unfortunate episode at Phoenix, both Manilal and Jamnadas
were taking undue liberties with young females in Dr. God's family. In other
respects also, he found them drifting into laxity. Although he needed them
there for looking after Kasturba, he could not reconcile himself to their
continued stay at Cape Town. He lost no time in sending them away. With
Jeki still at Phoenix and he himself away from that place, he did not want
Manilal to go back there. So he arranged for him to spend this period at
Johannesburg under Kallenbach's care. Rightly or wrongly, Manilal felt very
much hurt. In one of his letters, he charged his father with cruelty. The
loving father replied: 'I shall no doubt appear cruel to you at present ... The
veil of ignorance which prevented me from seeing the same veil over you
has vanished, leaving only pure love. This love appears cruel to you for the
time being, for, like a physician, I must make you swallow bitter draughts...

I have grown impatient to help you ... to become perfect. Impatience is my
weakness. To the extent I am impatient, I am but a fond lover. I have fondness
enough in me yet to make me attached to you for being my son. When that
has gone, even the cruelty that you ... see in me, you will see no more.
Meanwhile, please bear with me.'

Manilal was emotionally upset at this time. Gandhi found it necessary
to monitor his work as well as conduct and play the dual role of a father
and a guru with greater care than ever before. The way he had to go about
it was painful. He was still feeling baffled by Harilal's inability even on
return to India to settle down to a course of life that would have satisfied
him and his wife. At the age of twenty-five, he was struggling with his
school education. Unable to dismiss him as a lost case and dissociate
himself completely from his affairs, Gandhi held fast to the view that Harilal
could make good if he cared to take his counsel and follow it. Even this
thought was tinctured with frenzied paternal rage. Some of the remarks in
his letter of March 2, 1914 reveal how unhappy he had been on Harilal's
account. After having blown out the steam that could not be held back, he
cooled down a little and, like a good father, told the young man to wait for
his return to India and until then not to start a new venture. His concrete
suggestion was: 'If you wish to live as I want you to, stay with me and be
my right hand.' This was the positive part of Gandhi's letter, but he was
too full of anger to end it there. The volcano seething inside again

ADIEU

415

erupted:'... I am a father who is prejudiced against you. I do not approve of
your ways at all. I doubt whether you have any love for us. This statement
sounds very harsh, but I see extreme insincerity in your letters ... I become
angry when writing to you and also feel like crying. This is my ignorant
state, my lack of enlightenment. I ought not to be so much attached to
you. I will free myself from it. Be patient with me till I succeed.'

This was his state of mind when Gandhi received a cablegram from
home informing him that his brother Lakshmidas had passed away. How
deeply he had felt this blow can be gauged from his letter of March 10,
1914 to Kallenbach: The greatest grief imaginable has befallen me. My
brother died .... I suppose simply thinking up to his last breath of me.
What a passionate wish it was on his part to meet me! And for me I was
hurrying everything on so that I could go to India with the quickest despatch
and fall down at his feet and nurse him. But it was not to be.' The differences
that had come up between them for some time notwithstanding, the deceased
had been like a father to him. How the change of heart had come about was
not known to Gandhi. Lakshmidas's last letter to him had been 'one of complete
reconciliation.'

Kasturba's health had again been causing anxiety. She now wanted
to try Dr. Gool's treatment. The medicines administered by him did not do
any good. On the other hand, she suffered a serious relapse. At one time her
condition became critical and Gandhi felt that death would be for her 'the
finest deliverance.' He had to spend much of his time looking after her. He
would read to her the Ramayana, besides singing hymns for whatever duration
she could listen with interest. He was thus preparing her for the journey's
end. He had even made arrangements for her funeral! Meanwhile, he had put
her back under his own nature-therapy to which she responded well and
showed some signs of improvement.

Beset with problems of all kinds, Gandhi started worshipping God by
prayerfully counting beads. He wrote about it to Kallenbach, who wanted
to know more about it. He explained to him the usefulness of uttering over and over
again the name of the Highest with the help of a rosary. The principle behind it was
that if a person deliberately repeated the name of God, the Divine love was bound
to grow on him and eventually bring about the merging of the Self in Him.

Kasturba had been worn down by her illness to a shadow, when
Gandhi along with her moved back to Phoenix towards the end of March.
For a few days it looked as if she had turned the corner, but her intake of
food was so little that she could not pick up strength. On April 4, Gandhi
wrote to Kallenbach that looking after Kasturba kept him wholly occupied:
'She resents my absence even for an hour. She is helpless without me.'
Three days later, he wrote: 'Mrs. Gandhi is lingering. She is taking a little
food now but it is next to nothing. At this rate she can't live many months. ..Yet
who knows?' His next letter to Kallenbach, written on April 1 0, was equally
cheerless: 'Just now I am nothing but an efficient nurse ... Mrs. Gandhi is
my sole consideration and she claims me. If I am away from her for any

416

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

length of time she cries bitterly ... She may recover but there is not much
chance... She has to be helped to do everything. I am only praying that
there may be no imperative public call on me whilst I am doing this work.’

No wonder, in this state of health Kasturba had grown short-tempered.
It would appear that her grudge against Jeki was constantly preying on her
mind. Gandhi himself was thoroughly disgusted with what Jeki had done, but
he had the strength to be a little patient in his day-to-day dealings with her.
Kasturba was, however, unable to contain her anguish; she just could not
excuse Jeki for the hurt she had caused to the Gandhi family. Probably this
was one of the factors responsible for affecting Kasturba's health at that particular
time. Kallenbach was so deeply associated with Gandhi's personal life that the
latter would never hesitate to take him into confidence about whatever came to
pass in his household. On April 1 2 he wrote a long letter to his friend, giving a
detailed account of what had taken place between him and Kasturba the previous
day and the thoughts that had come to his mind as a result:

Mrs. Gandhi is much better but an event happened yesterday which
once more proved what I have told you, namely that she has both the
devil and the divine in her in a most concentrated form. She made
yesterday a most venomous remark: 'Who has opened Devdas's
drawer?' -suggesting that Jeki had tampered with it. She spits fire
on Jeki. I gently remarked that I had opened it. 'Why?' was the
growling question... I said: 'In order to see whether I could find a •
sheetfor you.' That does not contain sheets' was the retort — so ... as
to convey to me that I had not opened the drawer but I was telling a
fib to shield Jeki. This was too much. And I again gently but rebukingly
remarked that she was sinful in her thought and that her disease
was largely due to her sins. Immediately she began to howl. I had
made her leave all the good foods in order to kill her; I was tired of
her, I wished her to die, I was a hooded snake. The manner of
delivery of these remarks was most vicious. I told her... I could only
pity her in her sins. The more I spoke the more vicious she became
... I apologised to her and told her that henceforth even to that extent
I would not remonstrate with her. Nor would I. She has a character
and she has none. She is the most venomous woman I have ever
met. She never forgets, never forgives. She has contrary emotions.

I have nursed her as a son would nurse his mother. But my love has
not been sufficiently intense and selfless to make her change her
nature... Truly she has so far been my best teacher. She teaches
me [the] emptiness of the world, she teaches me patience,
forgiveness, greater need for self-sacrifice, for love and charity. The
incident leaves me, I hope, a better, wiser, more loving man, if it also
leaves me sadder. Yes, a man who wishes to work with detachment
must not marry. I cannot complain of her being a particularly bad
wife or a bad woman. On the contrary no other woman would

ADIEU

417

probably have stood the changes in her husband's life as she has.

On the whole she has not thwarted me ... But how can a leopard
change his spots? And yesterday's incident would probably not have
happened ... in an ordinary household. My point is that you cannot
attach yourself to a particular woman and yet live for humanity.

The two do not harmonise. That is the real cause of the devil waking
in her now and again...

In the altercation between the wife and the husband and in Gandhi's
account as given by him to Kallenbach, both Gandhi and Kasturba had laid
bare some deep recesses of the subconscious which had been lying sealed
under air-tight lids. Perhaps Kasturba's pent-up emotions had found a cathartic
release in her outburst, enhancing her chances of recovery from the illness
that had long plagued her.

For the next 3-4 weeks, though Kasturba's health was steadily improving,
Gandhi remained in a disturbed state. One fragment of a letter, written by him
on April 22 (the addressee's name remains unknown) contains a vivid picture of
what was going on in his mind at this time: ' ...Never perhaps have I spent such
days of agony as I am doing now, I talk and I smile, I walk and eat and work, all
mechanically these days. I can do no writing whatever. The heart seems to
have gone dry ... I have often wanted to take out the knife from my pocket and
put it through the stomach. Sometimes I have felt like striking my head against
the wall opposite, and, at other times, I have thought of running away from the
world.' He had confided to Kallenbach that all this was the result of the stress
he had been put to because of Jeki and Mrs. Gandhi.

On deeper reflection, he had managed partly to regain his serenity.
But he could not overcome the desire to inform his well-wishers: 'See here,
my friends, Jeki has committed terrible sins.' He had an equally compulsive
longing to atone for his own error of having put so much faith 'in one who did
not deserve it.' He was about to go on two weeks' fast but checked himself for
the time being lest it should upset his wife and even result in her death. He
did undertake it after some time, though only when he felt confident about
Kasturba's health. Before doing that he had informed neither Polak nor
Kallenbach. After the ordeal was over, he wrote to the latter: 'This fast... brought
me as near death's door as possible. I can still hardly crawl... The fast was a
necessity. I was so grossly deceived. I owed it to Manilal of Fiji, to Dr. Mehta
and to myself... Everyone around was most charming. Mrs. Gandhi was
divine. Immediately she realised that there was no turning me back, she set
about making my path smooth. She forgot her own sorrows and became my
ministering angel. And she still remains the same. The result is she is
better in health...'

In the meantime, after getting Dr. Mehta's approval, arrangements had
been made for Jeki to leave South Africa and join her husband in Fiji. It
was only after her departure that Manilal was allowed to leave Johannesburg
and come over to Phoenix. Gandhi obtained from him a solemn vow

418

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

that he would hereafter live a strictly celibate life and also that he would not
marry until such time as his father released him from this vow which he did
not do till 1927.

Gandhi was known for his severity on himself. He was only a little less
severe with his wife and sons: he was too anxious to shape them in his own
mould. Just as his family could not draw him over to the normal human plane,
among his countrymen in South Africa, the Gujaratis were at the end unable
to earn as supportive a relationship with him as he had with the Tamils. He
was frank enough to say: 'I wish the Gujaratis to learn a lesson from the
Tamils. Though I do not know their language, they have given me the greatest
help in the fight. On the other hand, though I can explain my aims best to
Gujaratis ... they have failed in their duty...'

The fact is that there was nothing dearer to Gandhi than the cause he
had been working for. While he himself was to return to India, he did not
agree to Henry Polak's departure for England at that juncture. Both of them,
he asserted, could not leave South Africa at the same time: one or the other
must remain to see that the settlement was properly implemented. The Indians'
Relief Act (1 91 4) was in Gandhi's view a kind of Magna Carta. In the farewell
letter to his countrymen he appealed to them: 'Nurse the settlement; see to
it that the promises made are being carried out. Attend to development and
progress from within. Zealously remove all causes which we may have given
for the rise and growth of anti-Indian prejudice or agitation, and patiently
cultivate and inform European opinion so as to enable the Government of the
day and Legislature to restore to us our rights.'

***

On his arrival at Cape Town along with Kasturba and Kallenbach on
July 1 8, his last day in South Africa, he was received by a large number of
European and Indian friends and taken in procession from -the railway
station to the Docks. Another farewell function was held there. The mood
in which Gandhi was bidding good-bye to South Africa was well reflected
by the pair of sandals, made with his own hands during his last prison
term in South Africa and sent by him to General Smuts before his departure
as a token of regard for the person with whom he had battled so long.*
This fondly cherished gift was kept by the General with tender care. He
would occasionally wear the sandals at his Doornkloof farm at Irene. In
1939, on Gandhi's seventieth birthday, Smuts sent him a photograph of
his 'treasured relic' as a reminder of mutual friendship. With great feeling
he had remarked: 'I have worn these sandals for many a summer... even

* Another person who had the privilege of receiving a similar pair of sandals as a gift from
Gandhi was Mr. Morris Alexander, M.P., who felt amazed at his friend’s 'skill as a cobbler.’
P. S. Joshi, Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa, (Rajkot, 1980), p. 316. Soon this good cobbler
was to become India's master spinner.

ADIEU

419

though I may feel that I am not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great
a man. Anyhow, it was in that spirit that we fought out our quarrels in
South Africa.'

Recollecting the story of their clash in the early days of the Union of
South Africa, Smuts remarked: 'It was my fate to be the antagonist of a man
for whom even then I had the highest respect... he never forgot the human
background of the situation, never lost his temper or succumbed to hate, and
preserved his gentle humour even in the most trying situations.' He frankly
admitted that Gandhi's activities at that time were very trying to him. He
could not have liked the odium of carrying through a patently unjust law and
the discomfiture of having to repeal it later under duress. No wonder, after
Gandhi had set sail for England by R.M.S. Kilfauns Castle, Smuts heaved a
sigh of relief. Afew weeks later, replying to a letter he had received from Sir
Benjamin Robertson, he wrote:'... the saint has left our shores — I sincerely
hope for ever.' Smuts had used the word 'saint' in all sincerity. What had irked
him was not Gandhi's saintliness, but the way he combined it with practical
politics. Before long the British imperial authority in India was similarly to be
at its wits' end in dealing with this saintly Titan.

LEGACY LEFT BEHIND

Gandhi’s work in South Africa has all along been viewed in the context
of his efforts to stem the tide of racial discrimination suffered by the
immigrants from India. He had, no doubt, concentrated all his energies on
the limited task of protecting the interests of his own countrymen. However,
the high visibility of the Passive Resistance Campaigns organized by him
and his associates could not but attract the attention of the Black
intelligentsia. Conceivably, this was one of the factors that ultimately brought
about the birth of the South African Native National Congress (later renamed
the African National Congress) in January 1 91 2 to unite all the Blacks across
tribal divisions to defend the rights of the native population.

Initially, the activities of the ANC were confined to petitions and
deputations, comparable to what the Indian community had been doing
upto 1905 under Gandhi’s guidance. But between 1906 and 1913, the
Indians resorted to active defiance of the oppressive white regime by way
of passive resistance that soon got elevated to its more sanctified form,
Satyagraha. The climax was reached in October 1 91 3 when the coalfield
labourers in the neighborhood of New Castle put their tools down and
went on a strike. The most dramatic part of this action was the strikers’
trek from New Castle to Charlestown to court imprisonment by making
unauthorized entry into the Transvaal for onward march to Johannesburg
for reaching the Tolstoy Farm, if they were allowed to do so. This campaign
ultimately led to the negotiated settlement arrived at between Gandhi
and General Smuts in 1914 and the passage of the Indian Relief Act
which was euphemistically described as the Magna Carta of the Indian
settlers in South Africa.

The first mass action undertaken by the ANC was the noteworthy
resistance put up against Pass Laws, somewhat similar to the movement
launched by Gandhi in 1907 against the Asiatic Registration Act in the
Transvaal. Thousands of men and women threw away their passes and
courted arrest. Many were sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour.
Those who were fined refused to pay up and chose to go to jail. Many
were roughed up and injured by mounted policemen and also attacked
by white vigilantes.

As for the Indian community, subsequent to Gandhi’s departure
from South Africa, the spint of the 1 91 4 accord remained unworn during

LEGACY LEFT BEHIND

421

the war years. But after the return of peace, there was another wave of
anti-Indian agitation in the Transvaal. The Pretoria administration promptly
went in for a new law in 1 91 9 that severely limited the rights of Indians in
that province to acquire landed property and set up new enterprises. It
was this new onslaught that led to the founding of the South African
Indian Congress (SAIC), which brought together the leaders of the
provincial bodies and raised a loud protest against the legislation in
question. The whites, on the other hand, considered this law too mild
and wanted the Government to combat the ‘Indian menace* more effectively.
The Asiatic Inquiry Commission (1 920), appointed by the Government in
view of the growing tension on both sides, recommended a plan of
repatriation (apparently voluntary) and reaffirmed the principle of
segregation. Thanks to Gandhi’s increasing influence in his own country,
the interventions on behalf of the Government of India were more prompt
and vigorous, but these were of no avail. General Smuts who, after Louis
Botha’s demise, succeeded him as Prime Minister, had turned his back
upon the policy he was guided by in 1 914. He had now a lurking fear that
equal rights for Indians would lead to the demand for similar rights by the
native population and that would make it difficult to sustain white
domination.

In June 1924, the Nationalist Party led by General J.B.M. Hertzog in
alliance with the Labour Party defeated the more moderate South African
Party (SAP) headed by Smuts and came to power. By the time this change
took place, the prevailing social environment had brought the ruling whites’
prejudice against Asians as well as Blacks to a very high pitch. The growing
class of white skilled labour, including Afrikaners, was more resentful than
ever before about the non-whites competing for the available jobs, particularly
so because many of the employers found it more economical to employ the
latter. The Color Bar Act j(1 926) practically reserved certain sectors of the
mining industry for Europeans by making it obligatory for those seeking
skilled and semi-skilled jobs to have a proficiency certificate which the
Asians and the Blacks would not be easily granted. The white colonists
exercising unbridled political power had come to look at the Asian settlers
as well as the African Blacks in unambiguously adversarial light and keep
them at bay. Even at this stage, the Asians and the Blacks had not realized
the need of getting together to resist the white tyranny.

The economic strangulation and social alienation were proceeding
side by side. The Natal Indians were bitter against the regime because of
a new law which took away their municipal franchise. Soon thereafter,
the Union Government came up with the Areas Reservation, Immigration
and Registration Bill. Besides introducing more impediments in the way
of immigration and enjoining fresh registration of Asians all over South
Africa, the proposed bill subjected them to compulsory segregation. The
outcry raised by the SAIC and the Government of India led to a Round
Table Conference between representatives of the two governments. Its

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GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

outcome was the Cape Town Agreement of 1927. In return of the
Government of India giving its support to an arrangement for assisted
voluntary repatriation or re-emigration of Indians to some other countries,
the South African Government agreed not to go ahead with the bill. The
assumption was if the Indian population could be reduced, there would
not be much room left for any further trouble. The Indian community also
accepted this arrangement mainly because the agreement included an
assurance for taking all possible steps to provide educational and other
facilities to the Indians who were left behind. Quite soon this uplift clause
proved to be nothing more than a mirage.

Gandhi had been closely following these developments. He even
had a hand in the appointment of V S Srinivasa Sastri as Government of
India’s first Agent-General under the Cape Town accord. When he arrived
in South Africa in June 1927, C F Andrews, who had come to share
Gandhi’s concern with whatever happened in this country, was already
there. His primary aim was to inculcate among the Indians in the
Gandhian tradition an unflinching patriotic feeling for their adopted country
and to build up a spirit of understanding between them and South Africa’s
native population.

All in all, it was a period of drift which continued upto the mid- thirties.
The younger Indians, who were imbued with more strident ideas were not
satisfied with the goings-on around them. Some of them who had been
active in the trade union movement had come in close contact with the
Africans and had been influenced by the non-racist elements among
European activists. They organized the Liberal Study Group in Durban
where the Indians and African leaders could discuss national issues of
common interest. Their ranks were strengthened in the late 1930s with
three newly trained medicos from Edinburgh University - Dr. Yusuf Dadoo,
Dr. G.M. Naicker and Dr. K. Goonam - who got drawn into active socio¬
political work and soon became the backbone of a more radical movement.
It was this injection of new blood that enabled the SAIC to deal with the
situation that had arisen in the country after the formation of the United
South African National Party. General Hertzog heading the Union
government, now had Smuts as his second-in-command. The latter had
by then completely yielded to the forces of reaction and had come to
accept the policy of rigorous segregation.

What was in store for the Indians became clear in 1 939 with the
passage of a new law binding Asians in the Transvaal to their existing
premises for residence and business. Gandhi, who even at this time was
in touch with the changing situation in South Africa sent a cable to Smuts:
‘Why is the agreement of 1914 being violated with you as witness? Is
there no help for Indians except to pass through fire?’ The SAIC had
planned another resistance campaign but decided to hold it off because
of the gathering war clouds.

LEGACY LEFT BEHIND

423

The outbreak of World War II again brought about a parting of ways
between Hertzog and Smuts, with the latter emerging as the helmsman.
For the Dominion Party which formed part of the new coalition government
headed by Smuts and had its principal base in Natal, there was no issue
more important than that of preventing Indian penetration into European
areas. Even while the Indian troops were playing a spectacular role on
the battlefields in the Allies’ fight against fascism, another form of the
same evil was taking shape in South Africa. The Trading and Occupation
of Land (Transvaal and Natal) Restriction Act of 1943 was passed,
permanently decreeing the pegging of Indian property holding and trading
premises in the Transvaal, where this restriction had been ordered in
1939 as an interim measure, and extending the scope of this disability
gradually to Natal as well. Smuts wanted the Pegging Act, as the aforesaid
measure was called, not to be administered stringently. But the provincial
government in Natal, not quite amenable to Smuts’ idea of gradual change,
had gone ahead with extension of the Act to the whole of Natal. The
Indian population of the province, getting wary of moderate leadership,
was turning to the militant group of the upcoming younger leaders who
were itching for a fight.

The Indian problem had nearly reached its boiling point when Smuts
was faced with break-up of his coalition, with both Dominion and Labour
parties trying to exploit the situation to their advantage. Wanting to
assuage European as well as Indian public opinion, he came up with the
Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act (1 946). The Indians,
on their part, could not have welcomed a truncated franchise at the cost
of losing the rights to land purchase and residence according to their
need and convenience. They rejected this offer of franchise as ‘a miserable
half loaf. They called it the Ghetto Act.

The SAIC, now led by Dr. G.M. Naicker in Natal and Dr. Y. Dadoo in
the Transvaal, instantly launched a passive resistance campaign with its
prime focus on Durban. The Satyagrahis, both men and women pitched
their tents in the prohibited areas. Before the authorities could order any
counter-measures, some white miscreants, taking law into their own hands,
raided the camps, pulled down the tents, molested the passive resisters
and tried to terrorize them into submission. The Satyagrahis put up with
this hooliganism without any retaliation. When the Borough police did
intervene, they offered themselves for arrest. At the trial proceedings they
would in the Gandhian style plead guilty. Refusing to pay fines, they would
opt for going to jail. After serving their sentences, they would get back and
rejoin the crusade. The number of persons who courted imprisonment went
up to about 2,000.

At this time, India’s liberation from British rule was not too
far away. Yet Gandhi had so many thorns in his side: one of them was
the turn of events in South Africa. He called upon whites throughout the
world to remember the path that Jesus Christ had shown to the world. He

424

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

even reminded them that if the great Saviour were to descend on earth
and go to South Africa, he would have to live in a segregated area. The
Government of India expressed its displeasure by recalling the Agent-
General besides breaking trade relations with the Union. The Ghetto
Act became an important landmark in South Africa’s history: it brought
that country’s racist policy under UN scrutiny. The most significant fallout
of the Ghetto Act was that the passive resistance launched by the Indians
against the Act brought them closer to the South African Blacks. The
ANC, which had so far been committed to constitutional methods, was
now in a state of ferment under the influence of its Youth League. When
the then leaders of the Congress saw the Indian Satyagraha at work,
they realized in what direction it was necessary for them to move. Thus,
around the time when the Indian community led by the SAIC had been
seized by the second wind of Satyagraha, the ANC also had undergone
radicalization. Both the Congresses were now ripe to work in collaboration
with each other. In 1947 , Dr. A.B. Xuma, president of the ANC, arrived at
an understanding with Dr. Naicker and Dr. Dadoo that they would together
fight for full civil and economic rights. Their joint declaration of 9th March
1 947, known as the Doctors’ Pact, for the first time brought the Blacks
and the Indians in South Africa on a common platform.

The Indian campaign attracted a great deal of attention but failed
to yield any concrete gain. The SAIC leadership following the Gandhian
tradition, chose not to embarrass Smuts too much at a time when he had
to concentrate on his electoral contest scheduled for 1 948 and, therefore,
suspended the Satyagraha programme. It was a good move even in terms
of practical politics, because the non-whites had much to lose if Smuts’
Party was thrown out. In any event, the hard-nosed Nationalists led by
Dr. D.F. Malan went to polls carrying an unambiguous label of their blatant
segregationist policy viz., Apartheid. They did not hesitate to denounce
Smuts as a British toady’. Their mobilization skills helped them to gain
an edge over their opponents. With their victory, though by a narrow
margin, began the darkest period of South Africa’s colonial history. Soon
after assuming power, the Nationalists, determined to refashion South
African society according to Afrikaner ideals of racial purity, launched a
legislative blitz aimed at removing all loopholes left by earlier regimes in
the segregation of whites and non-whites. Luckily, the ANC’s ranks had
been reinforced as a result of three members of the Youth League -
Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela- being inducted into its
national executive. Responding to the new challenge that the non-whites
were faced with, the ANC, the SAIC and the CPSA (Communist Party
of South Africa) together decided to observe 26th June 1950 as a National
Day of Protest. The callousness with which demonstrations against the
apartheid laws were met with was to be the normal pattern of repression
in the coming years.

LEGACY LEFT BEHIND

425

Before long the repressive measures went beyond all limits of
tolerance. In June 1952, the ANC assisted by the SAIC, organized a
countrywide Defiance Campaign in the form of civil disobedience in which
Nelson Mandela played a leading role. There was no element of violence
in this programme. The entire campaign ‘was of an almost religious
character. The influence of Gandhi’s ideas of self-sacrifice as a way to
political success was very evident’. Nearly 8000 persons went to jail.
One side effect of this campaign was the formation of the Congress of
Democrats (CoD), a radical white group imbued with a new vision of
human rights, irrespective of race, colour or creed. In December 1952,
Albert John Luthuli became ANC’s President General. He sincerely
believed and never tired of emphasizing that the task before the Congress
was not that of throwing out the whites but that of building a multiracial
society. Deeply steeped in the Christian liberal tradition, he was in
every sense a true Gandhian. The Apartheid regime, rather than deal
with him in a spirit of accommodation, banned him for one year from all
political activities. Later in July 1 954, he was banned for two more years.
Despite these restrictions, Luthuli continued to guide the younger line
of ANC leaders, most of whom shared his firm belief in non-violence
and the need of a multiracial front against Apartheid. The high water¬
mark of his vision was reached in 1955 when a Congress of People
(CoP) was jointly convened by the ANC, the SAIC, the CoD and the
SACP (South African Colonial People’s Organization) at Kliptown, a
village near Johannesburg. Attended by about three thousand elected
representatives of different races, including a few Whites, the Congress
adopted the historic Freedom Charter declaring inter-alia that South
Africa belonged to all those who lived in the country.

The events of 1955 had opened a new chapter in the history of
South Africa. The ANC was now pulsating with a new life. This became
evident from what happened at the mammoth demonstration organized
by the ANC Women’s League and the Federation of South African Women
in August 1 956 to resist the extension of pass laws to non-white women,
vulnerable not only to greater harassment by the police but sexual assaults
as well. The Nationalist Government was now apprehensive of a rising
tide of revolutionary activity. Within a few months its security system
embarked on elaborate punitive action against high-ranking leaders of
the various organizations that had come together. It began with the arrest
of Albert Luthuli and 155 others in December 1956. After prolonged
scrutiny, 91 of them were prosecuted for high treason and violation of the
Suppression of Communism Act. Cases against 61 of them had to be
dropped and 30 others remained under trial until March 1961 when the
court acquitted all of them. The proceedings meant a great deal of
harassment for the ANC leaders and workers. This long drawn out case
attracted close attention the world over.

426

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

In the meantime, Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, who came to power in 1 958,
was determined to surmount all impediments to keeping different ethnic
groups as separate entities. One of the measures taken by his government
was to lay out a framework for establishment of separate educational
institutions for Africans, Asians and other coloureds. Another legislation
passed in 1959 aimed at creating separate ‘homelands’ for the Blacks
based on the reserves carved out for them. The sole aim was to confine
every sub-community to its own limited territory, each one serving as a
reservoir of migratory labour to be drawn upon by the white areas according
to their needs.

With the ANC, committed to its policy of non-violent action and
multi-racial democratic ideals, having failed to make any headway in its
struggle against Apartheid, the staunch believers in African nationalism
and more militant groups splintered off in April 1 959 to form the Pan African
Congress (PAG) led by Robert Subutwe. Although to start with the new
body had no plan for armed rebellion, there was considerable scope for
outbreak of violence in the given situation. From time to time, trouble would
flare up for one reason or the other. There were riots in the Transvaal, Natal
as well as in the Cape. Black women irked by fresh attempts to chain
them into the pass system invariably played an active part in the outbursts
of militancy. The Government had only one answer to these happenings:
more and more repression. Banishment or banning of the so-called
troublemakers was not uncommon. Everyone got a jolt when Albert Luthuli,
known for his commitment to a policy of conciliation, received orders
confining him to his home in northern Natal for five years.

The very same factors, which had caused the hardening of white
obduracy, had lent new vigour to the non-whites’ resistance. The ANC
was wanting to start a major campaign to build up pressure for abolition
of the much-hated pass system. The PAC, in its anxiety to steal a
march over the tired old veterans, made a pre-emptive bid to organize
countrywide demonstrations against the pass laws. In most cases, the
protest marches to the police stations for courting arrest went on
smoothly, but in some places things got out of hand. At Sharpeville, a
Bantu location thirty miles south of Johannesburg, the police contingent,
instead of dealing with the situation coolly, opened fire on the
demonstrators, killing 69 and causing injuries to about 180 others
including women and children. This tragic occurrence that took place
on 21st March 1960- the very year that was proclaimed Africa year by
the United Nations- outraged the conscience of all right- minded people
in every part of the globe. Albert Luthuli calmly gave a call for observance
of national mourning. The Government instead of making amends for
what had happened banned the ANC as well as the PAC, declared a
state of emergency and put nearly 2,000 leaders under arrest. The
outburst of world-wide condemnation had no effect on Dr. Verwoerd who

LEGACY LEFT BEHIND

427

remained adamant in his policy of separate development of different
racial groups. Apartheid was for him more than a political strategum: it
almost had the sanctity of religion.

The South African Government was left aghast when Albert Luthuli
was awarded the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize. The civilized world could not
have snubbed it more forcefully than by bestowing this honour on the untiring
upholder of the cause of non-racial democracy. Ironically, by this time the
ANC and the PAC leaders had sunk into such deep despair that they
could no more hope to keep the liberation movement alive by sticking to
non-violence with Gandhian passion. The transformation of the Union of
South Africa in May 1 961 into a republic outside the Commonwealth had
left them absolutely frustrated because it was precisely on the Apartheid
issue that Dr. Verwoerd had broken up with the leading Commonwealth
statesmen. If the white rulers of South Africa were ready to pay this price
to go along the path of Apartheid, could the non-whites ever expect their
non-violent struggle to meet any kind of success? This bleak outlook
compelled the ANC as well as the PAC to think of adopting some other
means. It was in this background that two new covert organizations came
into existence in 1961-62. Umkhontowe Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), led by
Nelson Mandela, largely comprising members of the old Congress Alliance,
resorted to the destruction of selected installations with studied care to
cause no harm to the people. Similarly Poqo, an offshoot of the PAC
engaged itself in acts of sabotage.

What happened subsequent to this turning point and up till the
final denouncement is a long, complicated story, no part of which could
scale down the significance of the remarkable perseverance with which
the likes of Dr. A.B. Xuma, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela,
Dr. G.M. Naicker, Dr. Y. Dadooand above all Albert Luthuli had followed
the path of non-violent struggle on Gandhian lines against the tyrannical
perpetrators of an abominable form of racial fascism for nearly half a
century. With the Government determined to crush with naked force their
non-violent struggle, the non-whites were left with no option but reconsider
their future strategy. In case of Albert Luthuli, the universally acknowledged
apostle of Gandhian vision, even half-hearted acquiescence to the use of
violent means as a last resort could not have come about without wrenching
his conscience.

The special importance of the legacy left behind by Gandhi lies
in the moral climate he had created and the extent to which it had
influenced all the non-white communities. Even the number of enlightened
whites who had been touched by it was not too small. Its long-term
consequence was that Nelson Mandela who epitomized the entire ANC
leadership that had led the struggle against apartheid did not have any
sense of bitterness when he was released in February 1 990. The process
of reconciliation was gone through between him and FW de Klerk, the
last ruler of the apartheid regime in a spirit of understanding and cooperation.

428

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

When the talks about setting up an Interim Government of National
Unity and organizing the election for a Constituent Assembly by all
South Africans were going on Nelson Mandela had made a very significant
observation: ‘Gandhi pledged 21 years of his life to the development of non¬
racialism and democracy in our country. It is our duty to ensure that we not
only remember his deeds but that we emulate and uphold them’.

Nelson Mandela who in many ways shared Gandhi’s world-view, led his
country through an extremely difficult transition, which could have slipped
into a ghastly racial blood bath. He went about it with such dexterity and
calm that the whole world felt amazed when South Africans of all races
cast their votes at the polling booths on April 27, 1 994. The most impressive
phenomenon that distinguished South Africa from the countries that were
around that time going through their periods of transition clumsily, was the
setting up of Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), that provided an
opportunity to those who had committed heinous crimes under the apartheid
regime to confess their actions and avoid prosecution. It was held that
truth, not punishment, that could heal the festering wounds of the victims
of gruesome atrocities suffered by them, at the hands of their tormentors
who were forgiven for what they had done. Some of the Blacks displayed
the nobility of spirit to an extent that they embraced those who had
committed acts of cruelty and thus granted unqualified forgiveness. It is
noteworthy that Truth was one of the pillars on which this Commission
was based, the other pillar being Reconciliation. In one sense Gandhi’s
Satyagraha and Nelson Mandela’s TRC are two sides of the same coin.
Truth is the vital part of both. One signified the struggle against injustice;
the other one represented the final goal of establishing harmony.

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430

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

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(C.U.P., 1962).

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(New York 2003).

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432

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References

Matter provided within inverted commas or cited in indent and the dialogues
appearing in some chapters are drawn from or based on the sources indicated
below. References relating to M.K. Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments
with Truth and Satyagraha in South Africa, as well as The Collected Works
of Mahatma Gandhi, produced by the Publications Division, Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi, which are
easily traceable, have been left out.

Page

Preface 'All great movements wait...' Bimal Prasad, pi 0

Preface (2) ‘He (M.K. Gandhi) served his ...’ Kader Asmal (ed), pp 344.

'1 roamed about in ...'

Shukla, p. 110.

'You won't find another...'

Pyarelal(1965), p.184.

'Large-hearted princes, whom ...'

Ibid.

'1 hope that Mr. Mohandas ...'

Gandhi Papers, Accession
No.159.Vol.il, p.46.

'He was wearing a high ..."

Nanda(1968), p. 28.

'unwelcome visitor’ •

Tendulkar, Vol. 1, p.36.

'We hear there is quite a ...'

Mahadevan, p. 28.

'a lantern unto my feet...'

Prayer Book (1662), 105.

'not between White and Black ...'

Troup, p. 59.

'We solemnly declare that...'

Selby, p. 81.

'who treated their Indian employees..’

Huttenback, p. 30.

He is introduced for...

Ibid., pp. 16-17.

'the scum of Madras and...'

Ibid., p.18.

'undesirables'

Ibid., p.14.

'There is probably not a ...'

Ibid, p. 19.

'such a proscription of...'

Ibid., p.101.

'eastern strangers'

Iqbal Narain, p. 165.

'for purposes of sanitation'

Huttenback, p. 108.

'Sir H. Robinson seeqps to ...'

Ibid., p. 109.

'salvage what they could ..."

Swan, p.40.

'Issuing guides does not...'

Pyarelal(1965), p. 316.

'The only reason why...'

Ibid., p. 317.

The men who had occupied ...'

Ibid., p. 410.

434

GANDHI

— ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

'with any grand political...'

Ibid., p. 410.

’would not deprive these people ...'

Ibid., p. 411.

'...if these people suddenly found ...

Ibid.

'added lustre to its somewhat...'

Ibid., p. 411.

'in all probability very much better..."

Ibid.

'ensued from a kind of...'

Erikson, p. 138.

'some such latent element...'

Ibid.

'negative identity, that is, of...'

Ibid., p. 135.

'hired representative'

Swan, pp. 38 and 79.

What transpired in the court.

Pyarelal(1965), p.481.

'the more crafty of the Indians ...'

Ibid., p. 482.

'using its influence and power...'

Ibid., p. 485.

'...the Indian Congress is of...'

Ibid.

'secret intrigues, conspiracies and ...'

Ibid., p. 486.

'wily interpreter'... 'paid agitator’

Ibid.

'What will Natal then come to !'

Ibid., p. 487.

'Gandhi's supreme ... the triumph of.

Ibid., p. 448.

'taking that which they had ...'

Ibid., p. 496,

'They have been treated as badly ...'

Ibid.

'mis-stated or exaggerated ...'

Ibid., p. 498.

'young upstarts'

Ibid., p. 453.

'no whit inferior'

Iqbal Narain, p. 113.

103

'too direct, too blunt'

Pyarelal(1965), p. 609.

106

'subject to the sole and ...'

Iqbal Narain, p. 170.

107

'moderation, impartiality and skill...'

Pyarelal(1965), p. 476.

'It would have been strange ...'

Ibid., p. 479.

108

'unnecessary to continue ...'

Ibid., p. 538.

112

'We place our position ...'

Athalye, pp. 29-30.

'brilliantly composed'

Payne, p. 110.

116

'defending and preserving the ...'

Pyarelal(1980), p. 9.

'unfair competition with ...'

Ibid.

'something humiliating'

Ibid., p.10.

'fostering care'

Ibid.

117

'Asiatic invasion'

Ibid.., p.11.

121

'Captain Milne, 1 want to ...'

Ibid., pp. 47-8.

122

'to trust the Government...'

Ibid., p. 50.

123

'Gandhi ! Gandhi ! Boo-oo ...'

Ibid., p. 54.

'Are you the man who ...'

Ibid., p. 55.

125

'We'll hang old Gandhi..."

Ibid., p. 59.

'confide Gandhi to their care'

Ibid.

'safe and sound'

Ibid.

126

'With a piercing look ...'

Ibid., p. 64.

'if he had done and said ...'

Ibid.

'ill-advised'

Ibid., p. 65.

127

'He might have kept to ...'

Ibid., pp. 65-6.

128

'1 trust you and your people ...'

Ibid., p. 71.

128

'in no way atone for...'

Ibid.

129

'a tale which no Indian can ...'

Ibid., p. 83.

131

'Ships would not bring ...'

Ibid., p. 110.

REFERENCES

435

132

'the wily Hindu even on his

Ibid , p. 108.

133

'not affront a large class of...'

Ibid., p. 109.

'to prevent persons who competed .

Ibid., 110-11.

'appearing'

Ibid., p.111.

'dishonest and hyprocritical...'

/jb/d,p.113.

'one of the most contemptible ...'

Ibid.

'most un-English and oppressive'

Ibid., p. 114.

'ever be passed in this Colony ...'

Ibid.

135

'unfairly and oppressively dealt...'

Ibid., p. 125.

140

'He was not surprised that...'

Ibid., p. 150.

141

'into the hands of interested parties ..’

Ibid., p. 152.

144

'bend to the blast'

Headlam (ed), Vol.l,
p. 304.

145

'1 presume you are kept..."

Pyarelal(1980),p. 241.

‘coolie test case'

Ibid.

147

'rather to restrict immigration ...'

Huttenback, p. 121

148

'strict compliance with the ...'

Pyarelal(1 980),p.260.

'the concession of most favoured ...'

Ibid., p. 262.

154

'Mr. Gandhi, 1 have long wished ...'

Ibid., p. 282-3.

155

'let by-gones be by-gones.'

Ibid., p. 283.

157

'terms of surrender...'

Ibid., pp. 312-13.

158

'had shattered men with ...'

Ibid, p. 289.

160

' the hard case and just...'

Ibid., p. 346.

'badly treated in the former...'

Ibid.

172

'priceless services'

Ibid, p. 375.

179

'breakfast meeting’

Ibid., p. 434.

'if a slave but touched ...'

Ibid.

186

'a white man's country'

Huttenback, pp. 130-1.

187

'... the name of South Africa stinks ..’

Ibid., pp. 143-4.

191-1

1 '1 am most grateful to see ...'

Ibid., p. 149.

203

'1 am looking forward to ...'

Polak Papers. Group 1 A,
S. No.1.

205

'Mr. Gandhi, you are preaching ...'

Radhakrishnan (ed),
p. 67.

223

1 cannot without further

consideration...'

Hunt (1978), p. 80.

226

'the ablest and most successful'

Ibid., p. 84,

'We are in a wholly indefensible ...'

Ibid., p. 85.

227

'... 1 am coming unwillingly to ...'

ibid., p. 87.

228

'1 consider it my duty..."

Huttenback, pp. 178-9.

239

'of all people in the world ...'

Hancock et al (ed),
Vol.ll.p. 368.

240

'manufacture of martyrs ...'

Ibid., p. 364.

243

'weapon of the weak'

Polak, H.S.L et al,
p. 58.

247

You have great strength and ...

Hancock et al (ed),
Vol.ll., pp. 397-8.

'If you persist, as you are ,..'

Ibid., p. 395.

270

'the thin veil of self-respect...'

Huttenback, p. 192.

436

GANDHI -

- ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

274

'as may be required for...'

Ibid., p. 200.

278

'Need 1 say that among those ...'

Kallenbach Papers,

S.No.2.

282

'stupid youngmen who seemed

Ibid., S.No. 10.

286

'Such has been the case with ...'

Ibid., S.No. 18.

288

'an ordinary agitator'

Doke, Ampthill's

Introduction, p. 2.

'vulgar defiance of the law'

Ibid.

'self-interest and pecuniary profit'

Ibid.

290-91 '1 continue to receive your...'

Kallenbach Papers,

S.No. 14.

308

'led by the indomitable Gandhi...'

Karve et a/(ed), Vol.ll,
pp. 409-410.

'1 am sure , if any of us ...'

Ibid., p. 414.

309

'dealing with the authorities ...'

Ibid., p. 417.

309-1 OFellow delegates, after the immortal

Ibid., p. 420.

310

'noble struggle'

Tendulkar, Vol.l, p. 112.

'brave efforts'

Ibid.

315

The whole ... story can ...'

Erikson, p. 239.

317

'sacred pilgrimage to the ...'

Kallenbach Papers,

S.No. 27.

'beyond necessaries befitting...'

Ibid.

320

'ruinous intoxicating ballast'

Indian Opinion
dated: January 8,1910.

'Hindu patriotism’

Troyat, p. 635.

322

'undistorted by false interpretations ’

Christian (ed), Vol.ll,
p. 706.

'ensnared by the false teachings ...'

Ibid.

'recognizing the law of love ...'

Ibid.

'And so your work in the Transvaal..

Ibid.

328

'the very profitable field of...'

Huttenback, p. 272.

'It will be announced that...'

Ibid., p. 273.

330

'...the effect of the Union of...'

Ibid., p. 277.

338

'It is easy to regret, but...’

Ibid., p. 298.

'the control and administration ...'

Ibid.

343

'The difficulty in working the ...'

Ibid., p. 295.

345-

5 'obscured — if, indeed, it did not...'

Polak, Millie Graham,

p. 22.

346

'Seek ye first the Kingdom of...'

Ibid., pp.22-3.

353

'If you feel your father has ...'

Dalai, p. 30.

357

'What does he think? Does he ...'

Ibid, p. 25.

360

'blunderland'

Mathur, p. 103.

364

'1 would myself go towards ...'

Gandhi, Prabhudas, p.100.

366

He had a splendid practice ...

Karve etal (ed), Vol.ll,
p. 445.

372

'with all resources in its power'

Swan, p. 239.

375

'1 am resolving in my own mind ,..'

Ibid, p. 242.

386

'1 found Mr. Gandhi in an ...'

Tendulkar, Vol.l, p. 140.

389

'The pilgrims whom Mr. Gandhi...'

Ibid., p. 141.

REFERENCES

437

395 'there had been no movement like Hardinge, p.91.
'came to a boiling point’ Ibid.

'the sympathy of India — deep and./Bhavsinghji (ed),

Vol.ll, p. 123.

398

'by measures which would not...'
'Gandhi had no business to ...'

399

'a slight ascetic figure ...'
Discussion between Gandhi and

400

Andrews

A newsman talking to Gandhi and

401

Andrews

'dear Oom Jannie'

402

'a human bridge'

404

'1 can't tell you the agony...'

'a furious outburst of impatience '

408

'His work in South Africa is done ..

412-413

'Everyone here says he is ...'
Gandhi-Mrs. Polak dialogue

413-414'What a tragedy ! I do feel...'

Ibid

Nanda(1968), p. 118.
Chaturvedi et al, p. 94.
Ibid., pp. 94-5.

Ibid., p p.95-6.

Hancock et al (ed),
Vol.ll, p. 152.

Ibid, p.155.

Gokhale Papers, File
242, Part I, S. No. 98.
Ibid.

Ibid, S.No. 99.

Ibid.

Polak, Millie Graham,
pp. 115-18.

Kallenbach Papers,

415 'The greatest grief imaginable ...'
'the finest deliverance'

'She resents my absence even for..’
'Mrs. Gandhi is lingering ...’

415- 16 'Just now I am nothing but...'

416- 17 'Mrs. Gandhi is much better...'

417 This fast ...brought me as near.. '

418 'treasured relic'

418-19 'I have worn these sandals ...’

419 'It was my fate to be ...'

'... the saint has left our shores ...'

425 ‘was of an almost . ’

428 ‘Gandhi pledged 21 years....’

S.No. 126.

Ibid., S.No. 138.

Ibid., S.No. 132.

Ibid , S.No. 143.

Ibid, S.No. 144.

Ibid. S.No. 145.

Ibid, S.No. 146.

Ibid , S.No. 156.
Hancock, Vol.l, p. 347.
Radhakrishnan(ed),
p.278.

Ibid., pp. 376-7.
Hancock et al (ed),
Vol.lll, p190.

Robert Ross, p. 123
Kader Asmai et al (ed),
pp 345-46

i ■

w J< k • i ffe

Glossary

Ahimsa

non-violence

Anjuman Islamia

Islamic Association

Anna

one-sixteenth of a rupee

Aparigraha

non-possession

Ashram

a retreat for community living

Bande Mataram

bow to thee O' Mother

Bhai

brother

Brahmacharya

observance of celibacy in quest of God

Coolie

labourer

Dewan

cheif minister

Dhatura

poisonous seeds of a wild-growing plant

Dussehra

an Indian festival to celebrate the victory
of good over evil

Ghee

clarified butter

Guru

spiritual teacher

Jowar roti

jowar is a coarse variety of grain —
roti stands for chapatis baked on a hot
plate

Karbhari

administrator

Karma Yoga

self-integration through purity of action

Math

monastery

Moulvi

religious teacher among Muslims

Naib Dewan

deputy chief minister

Nawab

ruler

Panchama

a low-caste person

Pandit

a scholarly person

Ramzan

the month set aside for fasting among
Muslims

Rana

chieftain

Samabhava

equipoise

Sanatan Dharma Sabha

an orthodox Hindu organization

Sarvodaya

well-being of all

Satyagraha

determined action in support of truth

Satyagrahi

one who practises satyagraha

Swadeshi

what belongs to one's homeland

Swaraj

self-rule

440

GLOSSARY/ABBREVIATIONS

Tamil

one of the languages of South India

Thakore

royal personage

Urdu

language akin to Hindi, based on Persian
and Sanskrit

Vaishnava

a Hindu beliver in the cult of Vishnu

Vaishya

the Hindu caste comprising merchants
and agriculturists

Abbreviations

BIA

British Indian Association

CBIA

Colonial Born Indian Association

CWMG

Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi

E.C.U.

Esoteric Christian Union

H.O.C.

House of Commons

NIC

Natal Indian Congress

NIPU

Natal Indian Patriotic Union

O.F.S.

Orange Free State

S.A.

South Africa

SABIC

South Africa British Indian Committee

TARA

Transvaal Asiatic Registration Act

TIRA

Transvaal Immigration Restriction Act

TVL

Transvaal

Index

Abdul Caadir, 288
Abdul Gani, 28-9, 215
Abdul Majid, 12
Abdulla & Co., 20, 65, 75
Abdulla Dada, 23-8, 30, 57, 60, 64-5,
67-70,75,81,88, 114, 119
Abdulla Haji Adam, 81
Abdurrahman, Dr, 280, 288, 361;

spokesman for Cape Coloureds, 281
Adamji Miyakhan, 24, 104
Afrikaners; 421 ,424
Afrikander Bond, 43, 149
Agreament of 1 927, 422
Ahimsa, 59. See also NON-VIOLENCE
Aiyer, P.S., 184, 326, 329, 339
Alexander, Mrs. R.C., 123, 128
Alexander, R.C, 94, 123-6, 180
All India Muslim League, 310
Ally, Haji Ojer, 51, 215, 221-2, 226,
241 ,410; and Gandhi on deputation
to England, 220; his differences
with Gandhi, 248-9
Ameer Ali, Syed, 248
Amod, Abubakar, 50, 52
Amod Bhayat, 392
Ampthill, Lord, 282,284,286-7, 294, 340,
400; his admiration for Gandhi,
288

Andrews, C.R, 394, 404, 408, 422;
crucial role of, 399; his meeting with
Gandhi, 398, — Smuts, 402,
Anglo-Boer War (1899), 152-7, 220,
273; turning-point in British Indian
politics, 196; Emily Hobhouse's
mission of mercy during, 401;
insights into Englishmen from, 220;
lesson of duty from, 273, — in Indian
politics in Natal and Transvaal, 196
Anjuman Islamia, 1 6
An Appeal to Every Briton in South
Africa, 1 02

Apartheid, 424,425,426,427,428
Apartheid laws, 424
Arabs (term used for Gujarati Muslim
traders), 24, 50, 54, 61 , 93
Archbishop of Canterbury, 233
Areas, Reservation, Immigration and
Registration Bill, 421
Asiatic Registration Act, 420
Aswat, Ebrahim Ismail, 279

Baker, A.W., 30, 57-8, 65
Balasundaram, 91-2
Banerjee, Surendranath, 113
Bannerman, Henry Campbell, 223
Bantu(s), 35, 43
Basu, Satyananda, 359
Bawazeer, Abdul Kadir (Imamsahib),
267

Bengal, 45, 175

Bengal Provincial Congress Com¬
mittee, 359
Besant, Annie, 176
Bhagavad Gita, 1 5, 79, 203, 246, 348,
41 2; a spiritual guide, 1 97, 272
Bhownaggree, Muncherjee, 221 , 224,
283-4, 292

Bible, 57, 246; New Testament, 15;

the Sermon on the Mount in, 1 5, 59
Binns, Henry, 96, 136
Binns-Mason Delegation, 97, 100
Birtwell, Dr., 117
Blacks, 420,421,426,428
Black Act, 214,

Bloemfontein Convention, 39
Boer (s) (trekboers), 34-43, 102,
1 50-1 ; and question of Asiatic Regi¬
stration Act, 251

Bombay, 1 0-1 1 , 1 3, 1 7-20, 50, 55, 63.
75, 111-13, 115, 176-8, 182-3,
197,211,307,365

Booth, Dr., 153,158, 163, 209; Indian

442

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Ambulance Corps trained by, 1 55
Botha, Louis, 191, 227-8, 230, 237,
270, 280, 287, 292, 31 1 , 324, 327,
333, 363, 375, 409; his meeting with
Gokhale, 364

Brahmacharya, 211-2, 345-6, 354
Briscoe, Dr., 386

(The) British; character, 221 ; display of
courage by, women, 233; role in Boer
War, 1 57

British Committee of the Indian
National Congress, 107
British Empire; essentially benign, 45,
96,168

British Imperialism, 293
British Indian Association (TVL),
185,192. 214-15, 217-18, 228, 231,
252, 261 , 263-5, 270, 309, 310, 334,
343, 369, 375; address to Gokhale,
361 ; provisional settlement with S.A.
Government, 336-7; threat to resu-me
passive resistance, 370-2
British Parliament; criticised, 296,
liberals’ sympathy with Indians, 343
British Rule; commercial greed the
driving force of, 294, 297
Buddha, Lord, 79
Buller, General, 155
Burmese, 175

Cachalia, Mohammed Ahmed, 275,
280,310,375,392,410
Calcutta, 48, 96, 100, 109, 113, 158,
1 73-6, 359

(The) Cape, 23; the Dutch colo-nisation,
33-4; arrival of the British, 35; sons
of the soil, 33-6; barriers between the
Dutch Boers and British settlers, 36-
8; Boer migration, 37-8; British ex¬
pansionist thrust, 38-9; full respon¬
sible government, 43; Asian/ Indian
immigrants, 51-2,193-4,206; Fran¬
chise and Ballot Act (1892), 51; tilt
towards outright racial discri¬
mination, 105; The Cape Immig¬
ration Restriction Act (1902), 193,
206; British Indians vis-a-vis the
Cape Coloureds, 219, 281; dele¬
gation on behalf of Cape non-whites
led by Dr. Abdurrahman, 280-1 ,288;
barriers against entry of Natal

Indians, 326; British Indian Union,
339, 342

Cape Town, 106, 220, 225-6, 308,
324, 334, 360-1 , 404-5, 41 3-1 4,41 8,
422

Cape Town Agreement of 1 927, 422
Carlyle, Thomas, 79, 246, 296
Camarvan, Lord, 40
Cartwright, Albert, 247-9, 265, 270
Cetshwayo, King, 43, 44
Chamberlain, Joseph, 97, 99, 101,
103-4, 107, 129, 131, 137, 145-8,
150,178-81,196

Chamney, Montfort, 229, 256-7, 264,
269,

391-2

Charlestown , 26-7, 383, 385-8
Chesterton, G.K., 291
Chhotabhai, 323-4

(The) Chinese, 239-40, 268-9, 336;

reception to Gokhale, 362
Christ, Jesus, 57-8, 211 , 237
Christianity, 23, 36, 57-9, 79
Churchill, Winston, 223, 226, 247
Civilization, 62, 72; ills of modern,
297-306

Clifford, (Rev.) John, 232
Coates, Michael, 57-8, 61-2
Cobden, Richard, 233
Collins, Ramsay, 124, 126, 140
Colonial Bom IndianAssociation (C.B.I.A)
(1911), see under natal
COLONIALPATRIOTIC UNION, 116-18, 132
Coloured Agitation Committee, 51
Conciliation Committee, 279
Congress of People, 425
Cotton, Sir Henry, 221
Cousins, C.W., 368-9
Crewe, Lord, 283, 286, 330, 333, 360
Curtis, Lionel, 205-6
Curzpn, Lord, 134, 160, 175, 187,
195,283

Dadoo Dr Y, 422, 423, 427

Darwin, Charles, 16

Das, Tarak Nath, 291 , 31 9-20
Dave, Kevalram, 176
Demonstration Committee, 1 1 8-9, 1 32
Derby, Lord, 53

INDEX

Devi Dayal, Bhawani, 368-9
Dew, Mrs., 401
Dhingra, Madan Lai, 281-2
Dick, Miss, 204, 280
Disraeli, 40

Doctor, Jayakunwar (Jeki), 412-14,
416-17

Doctor, Manilal, 41 2, 41 7
Doctor’s Pact, 424
Doke, (Rev.) Joseph, 256-8, 280, 312,
320-21

Doke, Olive, 259
Doke, Mrs., 257-8
Dube, John L., 202
Duke of Connaught; visit of, to S.A.,
327

Duncan, Patrick, 213, 334
Durban, 21-4, 26, 31, 49-50, 55, 63,
67-8, 70, 74, 78-9, 81, 84, 115-16,
124, 130, 134, 137-9, 151-2, 169,
180, 198-9, 258, 324, 363, 368, 384,
396-8 ,422, 423

Durban Indian Committee, 55-6,81
(The) Dutch, 33-4, 36, 42-3
Dutch East India Company, 33-4
Dutt, R.C.; author of Economic
History of India, 301

Elgin, Lord, 96, 98-100, 106, 134,
221-3,225-6,228, 237
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 355
England; delegations to, 220-5, 281 -
9

Escombe, Harry, 68, 76, 118, 121-2,
127-8,136,154
Eshowe, 104

Esoteric Christian Union (Brother¬
hood), 79-80, 303
Esselen, Edward, 396-7
Essop, Ismail Mia, 255, 267-9, 275,
410

Farrar, George, 227
Fischer, Abraham, 343, 364
Fitzpatrick, Sir James Percy, 227

Freedom Charter, 425

Gandhi, 420, 422, 423, 427, 428 Gandhian
style, 424, Gandhi’s ideas, 426,
Gandhian lines ,427

443

Gandhi, Chhaganlal, 178, 183, 201-2,
304,318, 349, 351-3, 357, 378
Gandhi, Chanchal, 348-52, 355
Gandhi, Daman, 1

Gandhi, Devdas, 162-4, 178, 346,
355, 364

Gandhi, Gokuldas, 115, 161, 178;
death of, 348

Gandhi, Harilal,115, 161, 178, 267,
346, 349,352-4,379,413-5
Gandhr, Harjivan, 1
Gandhi, Janmnadas, 413
Gandhi, Kantilal; birth of, 352
Gandhi, Karamchand, 2-3,6,9-10
Gandhi, Karsandas, 347-8
Gandhi, Kasturba, 6,8-9,11,20-2,109-
1 1 , 1 1 5, 1 22, 1 61 -3, 1 65, 1 82-3,203-4,
211,258, 276, 290-1,312,345,
352-4, 357, 414; arrested as
satyagrahi, 378; close to death, 41 5;
determined to fight S.A. Marriage
Law, 371; her active role in life on
Tolstoy Farm, 31 3; persuaded to part
with ornaments, 1 72; seriously ill, 273,
275,403-4,413
Gandhi, Khushalchand, 351
Gandhi, Lakshmidas, 5,10-11, 18-19,
210-11,347-8,415

Gandhi, Maganlal, 202, 304, 318, 356-
7,351-3,394

Gandhi, Manilal, 115, 161, 172, 178,
311, 346, 354, 357, 412-13; arrest¬
ed, 379-80; his education, 356; down
with typhoid, 176-7; under
Kallenbach's care, 414; under pledge
of celibacy, 417

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand;
early years, 4-1 0; in England for law, 1 2-
15; efforts to set up law practice
in Bombay and Rajkot, 18-19; to
S.A. for one year’s assignment, 20-
3; first few days in Durban, 23-5;
the fateful journey to Pretoria, 26-
30; influence of Christian mission¬
aries, 57-60, 78-80; Raychandbhai's
influence, 17, 59; decides to stay
on in Natal, 67-78; establishment of Na¬
tal Indian Congress, 81-2; orga¬
nizing ability displayed by, 82; as a
man of law, 64-6, 75-6, 88-95, 180;
his friendship with Sheikh Mehtab,

444

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

6-8,11,77-8; immersed in public
work concerning Natal Indians, 98-
9, 101-4; the orbit of his political
activity gets enlarged, 104-8; visit
to India, 109; contact with Indian
political leaders,111-13; Green
Pamphlet, 111, 113,116; lynched on
return to Durban, 1 22-6; his magna-nimity
towards the assailants, 127;
up against more oppressive anti-
Indian legislation in Natal, 1 30-42; equally
serious problems in theTVL, 1 43-8; rais-
ing of an Indian Ambu¬
lance Corps during the Anglo-Boer War,
1 53-6; Queen's medals award-ed to him
and other platoon comm-anders, 1 58-9;
in response to his
earnest request Natal indiansallow
him to return to India with a proviso
that he would get back to S.A. if
the community was in need of
his services within a year, 1 70-1 , and
pursues their problem at the annual
session of Indian National Congress
at Calcutta, 173-4; Gokhaie be¬
comes his political mentor, 174-5;
S.O.S. from S.A. Indians, 178;
instantaneous departure for S.A.
irrespective of his newly-started law
practice at Bombay, 1 78; TVL takes
the place of Natal as his new field
of action, 182, 184-8; his work
during plague-outbreak at Johan¬
nesburg, 189-90; further compli¬
cations in TVL, 190-3; the saving
grace — increased political cons¬
ciousness of Indians in Natal
and the TVL, 1 96; the birth of Indian
Opinion, 184; his European friends,
197-9; comes under Ruskin's
influence, 200-2; setting up of
Phoenix Farm; takes up ambulance
duty again during the Zulu Rebellion,
208-10; differences with his brother
Lakshmidas, 210-11, 347; takes the
brahmacharya vow, 211-12; whips
up TVL Indians' resentment aga¬
inst the 'Black Act', 214; solemn
pledge to fight it, 214-18; his views
about making an alliance with other
non-whites in 8. A., 219; first

deputation to England, 220-5;
passive resistance launched in the
TVL, 229-32, 235-9, 241-3; Tho-
reau's influence, 233-4; birth of
satyagraha, 234-4; his first spell in
jail, 244-6; displays a strong sense
of realism, 248-9; Gandhi-Smuts
compromise, 248-52; its aftermath
— assault on Gandhi, 252-6; nursed
by Rev. Doke and his family, 257-
8; faces trouble at Durban also, 258;
resumption of satyagraha, 265-7;
bonfire of residence permits and
trading licenses, 268-9; trying time
for, 271; his second jail term, 271-
4; Gandhi and Cachalia, 275; admi¬
nisters hydropathic treatment to
Kasturba, 275-6; his third spell in jail,
276-8; second deputation to
England, 281-8; his disillusionment
with modern civilization, 292; Hind
Swaraj, Gandhi's critique on modem
civilization and his manifesto for
establishment of Home Rule in
India, 294-302; gets timely help
from India, 307-11; Tolstoy Farm
and his experiments there, 312-18;
Gandhi and Tolstoy, 59, 80, 211,
274, 291, and interaction between
them, 31 9-22; protracted negotia-tions
between Gandhi and Smuts, 332-7,
341-2; provisional settlement does not
lead to end of the problem, 336;
moves from Tolstoy Farm to Phoe¬
nix, 368; Kasturba also drawn towards
satyagraha, 370-1 ; ground prepared
for final struggle, 373-6;
relentless action, 377-80; strike by In¬
dian labourers in the Newcastle coal
mines, 381-4; strikers' march from
Newcastle in the direction of
Johannesburg, 385-94; Gandhi in
Bloemfontein jail, 396; the Union Gov¬
ernment realises the validity of Indian
case and opts for negotiated settle¬
ment, 396-407; Gandhi and
C.F. Andrews, 398-401, 408; bids
farewell to S.A., 418; two distinct
stages of his involvement with public
work, 60, 309-10, 366; Gandhi-
Kallenbach relationship completely

INDEX

445

out of this world, 278, 290-1 ; an enigma
to his wife and sons, 171-2, 348-58;
evolution of his personality and inner
landscape, 4-9, 13-16,

18-19, 21-3, 27, 31-2, 57-62, 64,
67, 69, 73, 75, 79-80, 94, 107-8,
157-8, 161-2, 164-6, 168-9, 178,
197, 200, 203-4, 210-12, 258-9,
291-3, 318, 340, 410-12, 417; his
deep concern with hygiene and
sanitation, 368

Gandhi, Putalibai, 2,4,10,18,22
Gandhi, Ramdas, 163,178, 346, 355-6,
378

Gandhi, Rami, 349-50
Gandhi, Tulsidas, 3
Gandhi, Uttamchand, 1-2
Garibaldi, 229

George V, King; racial distinction in
celebration of his Coronation, 241 -2
Ghetto Act, 423, 424
Gladstone, Lord, 395, 401
Gladstone (Prime Minister), 41 , 51 , 55
God, 1, 3, 12, 14, 17, 21, 28-9, 58-9,
77, 89, 95, 120, 168, 177-8, 197,208,
212, 216, 234, 244, 258, 273, 297,
320, 346-7,354,415
Godfrey, George, 224
Godfrey, James, 224
Godfrey, Subhan, 24, 70
Godfrey, Dr. William, 189, 224
Gokhale, Gopal Krishna, 11 3, 1 29. 1 64, 1 66,
174-6, 178, 187, 295, 304, 307, 311,
379, 383-4, 391-2, 394, 402, 408; and
S.A. Indian problem, 359; criticism of,
377; his appreciation of Gandhi's role
in TVL struggle, 309-10; in poor
health, 399; not in favour of boycott of
Commission, 397-8; pivotal role of, 395
Gool, Dr., 414; Ba treated by, 415
Goold-Adams, Hamilton John, 193
Gorges, E.M., 406
Green Pamphlet; 1 1 1 , 1 1 3, 1 1 6
Gregorowski, R., 329
Grey, George, 40, 43
Griffin, Lapel, 221-2

Habib, Haji, 215, 249, 279-80, 282-3,
286-7

Habib, Motan, 190

Hamidia Islamic Society, 21 7, 267, 369;
meeting organised by, at Johannes¬
burg, 21 5, 410
Hamilton, John, 211
Hamilton, Lord George, 135
Hampden, John, 211
(The) Hampstead Peace and Arbitration
Society, 292
Harbat Singh, 393, 410
Hardinge.Lord, 395, 397-9
Harishchandra, Raja, 5

Hertzog General , 421 , 422,423
Hermetic Society, 59
Het Volk, 227-8
Hills, A.F., 63

Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule), 293,
295-306, 321

Hinduism, 4, 57, 59, 79, 347
Hobhouse, Emily, 405; her closeness to
Smuts, 401

Hofmeyr, Jan Hendrik, 43, 149
Hosken, William, 230, 265, 274; his
comment on passive resistance,
243; in support of Gandhi, 331
Hulett, L, 48

Hume, Allan Octavian, 295
Hunter, William, 103
Huxley, T.H., 16

Immigration Agent, 45
Immigration Trust Board, 99
Imperial Conference, London, 341
Indentured Indian Labour, 23, 45-. 50,
53, 55-6, 68-9, 92, 96-100, 116,
153, 177, 289, 372, 374-5, 380;
strike by, 381-94
India House, London, 289-90
Indian Ambulance Corps; service dur¬
ing Boer war, 153-8
Indian Grievances Inquiry Comm¬
ission; boycott of, 397; headed by
William Solomon, 396; Robert¬
son's role , 403
Indian Home Rule, 335
Indian National Congress, 19,81 , 98,
100, 173, 295, 305, 308-9, 328, 341
Indian Opinion, 1 83, 1 89-90, 1 94, 1 99,
201-2, 207, 210-11, 236, 241, 271,
308-9, 311, 339-40, 346, 349, 351,
394, 408; its crucial role, 232; object

446

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

of satya-graha explained in, 377-8
Indian Relief Act, 420, euphemistically
described as Magna Carta of Indian
settlers in South

{The) Indian Sociologist, 289, 291
Irving, Washington, 79
Isa Haji, 28
Islam, 4, 59,79
Ismail Suleiman, 55

Jackson, A. M.T., 290
Jainism, 59

Jameson, L.S.; raid led by, for
Uitlanders' cause, 150
Jeki, see DOCTOR, Jayakumar
Jhaveri, Abdul Karim, 20, 23
Jhaveri, Omar Haji Amod, 381
Joan of Arc, 211

Johannesburg, 26, 28, 31 , 42, 76, 115,
156, 180, 183, 188-9, 197-8, 203-
4, 208,215, 220, 224, 237,

241-2, 248, 256, 258, 264, 268, 272,
274,312,361,373,410,420, 425,426
Johnston, 30-1

Jordan, H.H.; trial at the court of, 237-
9,241-2

Joshi, Mavji, 10

Jusset, Ebrahim Mohammed, 370
Jusset, Fatima, 370
Jusset, 370

Kallenbach, Hermann, 282, 286, 313,
335, 353, 361-3, 367, 375, 385, 388,
397, 408, 413; and establishment
of Tolstoy farm, 31 2; as passive re¬
sister, 380; and Gandhi, 235, 278, 290,
317; Gandhi's letters to, about Ba,
415-7; his service to TVL
Indians, 340; jailed with Polak, 393;
as Acting Honorary Secretary of
British Indian Association, 280
Karma Yoga; and Bhagavad Gita,
1 97; yearning for a life of, 1 68
Khan, R.K., 162, 171
(The) Kingdom of God Is Within You,
59,319

Kingsford, Anna, 59
Kitchin, Herbert, 202
Kitchner, Lord, 157
Klerk de FW, 427

Koran, 4, 23, 59, 246
Krause, Dr. A.E.T., 61
Krause, F.E.T., 61

Krishnavarma, Pandit Shyamji, 232;

a radical patriot, 289
Kruger, Paul, 40-2, 44, 52, 61, 148-
50, 297

Kuhne, Louis; system of hydropathic
treatment, 314

Lalkaka, Dr. Cawas, 281
Lallo, Ratanji, 266
Lamur, 21

Laughton, F.A., 118, 122-3, 126-7
Lawley, Sir Arthur, 186
Lawrence, Vincent, 77, 162
Lazarus, David, 382-3, 385; hosting
satyagrahis, 386
Lazarus, Mrs., 382
Leonard, Charles, 42
Lichtenstein, 277
(The) Light of Asia, 1 5
Locations (for Asians/Indians), 54-5, 62,
105-7; 143-8, 185-6; outbreak of
plague in the Johannesburg
location, 188-90; the Bazaar Notice,
190-1

Locations (for Blacks), 44
Loch, Sir Henry, 54
London, 10-14, 16, 20, 22, 86; Con¬
vention (1844), 41, 53-4, 106
London Committee, see south Africa

BRITISH INDIAN COMMITTEE (SABIC)

London Vegetarian Society, 1 5-1 6, 64
Love; as basis of satyagraha, 244;
highest law common to all religions,
322

Lucas, Captain, 84-5

Luthuli Albert John, 425, 426, 427

Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 179

Madras, 48; overwhelming affection
from people of, 1 1 3
Mahabharata, 1 5

Maharaj, Somnath; license case of,
138-9

Maitland, Edward, 59, 79
Majuba; battle of,. 41

INDEX

447

Malaviya, Madan Mohan, 310

Malay(s), 51

Malan Dr D.F, 424

Mandela Nelson, 424, 425, 427, 428

Manusmriti, 278

(The Great) March, 385-93

Mariambai; refused permit, 369

Maritz, Gert, 38

Maritzburg (Pietermaritzburg), 26-7,
31,38, 49, 74,184,195, 363, 382
Marx, Karl, 16
Mason, H.L., 96
Mazumdar.Tryambakrai, 11-12
Mazzini, 299, 355

Mehta, Sir Pherozeshah, 19, 98,111-
13,166,173-4,307
Mehta, Dr. Pranjeevan, 12, 17, 175-
6,351-3,355,412,417
Mehtab, Sheikh, 6-8, 11,13, 77-8
Melmoth, 104

Merriman, John Xavidr, 247, 281
Meyer, (Rev.) F.B., 292
Mill, John Stuart, 200
Miller, 85

Milne, Captain, 119-22
Milner, Lord Alfred, 145-6, 150, 157,
179,184,191,193,196, 205, 222,
228; his impassive attitude towards
Indians regarding Bazaar Notice,
186-7

MirAlam, 255-7, 269
Miyakhan, Adamji, 24, 104, 166-7
Mohammed, Daud, 270, 275, 381
Mohammed, Hasan; denied license,
139

Mohammed Kasam Kamruddin, 28
Mohammed, Prophet, 79
Mohandas, see GANDHI, Mohandas
Karamchand
Moodley, Jack, 258
Moodaley, R.N., 330
Moonswamy, Valliamma; her sacrifice,
409-10

Morley, Lord John, 222-3, 283
Moses, 107

Mukhtiar, Moulvi Syed Ahmed, 234
Mueller, Max, 79

Naazar, Mansukhlal, 119, 132, 162,
171,184,202

Nagappen; 282, 324; martyrdom of,
409-10

Naicker Dr G.M. ;422, 423, 427
Naidoo, C. K. Thambi, 242, 249, 255,
267, 309, 323; as leader of Tamil
satyagrahis, 380
Naidoo, P.K., 245, 385, 389
Naoroji, Dadabhai, 17, 52, 55, 62-3, 73-
4, 100-1, 103-4, 107, 159, 164, 179,
193,221,283,295

Narayanswamy, 324, 327; martyrdom
of, 409-1 0

Narmadashankar, 79
Natal, 2 3,421,423, 426;
annexation by the British,
38-9; crown colony, 43; labour
shortage, 44; indentured labour from
India, 45-9; Indian traders in, 50-1,
55-6; Indian franchise in, 67-73; the Va¬
grancy Law, 93; Indian Immig¬
ration Act (1891), 49, 93; Franchise
Amendment Bill/Act, 67, 69, 71-3,
101,104; Indian Immigration Amen¬
dment Act (1895), 96-100; Indian
Immigration Trust Board Act (1 874), 99;
the Natal whites’ anti-Indian
campaign, 116-22; a spate of anti-
Indian laws, 1 30-4; rigorous enforce¬
ment of Immigration Restriction Act
(1897), 137-8; Dealers' Licensing
Act (1897) as an instrument of
tyranny, 138-42; further disabilities
imposed, 177-8, 194-6, 207;
Shops (Early Closing) Act (1905),
207; Indians and the Zulu Rebellion,
207-9; part played by the Natal
brethren during the TVL satyagraha
campaign, 270; delegation led by
Abdul Caadir, 288-9; effort to
expose the evil nature of the
indenture system, 307, 311 ; emer¬
gence of the Natal Indian Patriotic
Union (NIPU) and the Colonial Born
Indian Association (CBIA), 326, 330;
general situation at the time, 338-9;
indentured and ex-indentured lab¬
ourers' problem taken up as a vital
issue, 375-6; strike by coal-mine
workers in Newcastle, 380-4; split
in Natal Indian Congress and

448

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

formation of the Natal Indian
Association, 381; strikers' march,
385-93

Natal Collieries Association, 384, 387
Natal Indians, 421

Natal Indian Association, 381, 396,
404

Natal Indian Congress, 119,184, 220,
231 , 268, 326-7, 339, 342, 359, 381 ;
Gandhi appointed its agent in India,
109; grown in strength, 166; help
during Zulu Rebellion, 208
Natesan, G.A.,310
National Day of Protest, 425
Nehru, Jawaharlal, 306
Nehru, Motilal, 293
Newcastle, 420
(The) New Republic, 41
(The) New Testament, see BIBLE
Nizam of Hyderabad, 310, 333
Non - racist elements, 422
Non- recialism, 428
Non-violence, 59, 120. See also
AH I MSA

Non - whites’ resistance, 426

Oldfield, Sir Josiah, 15,59
Ollivant, Charles, 19
Olpherts, General Sir William, 158
Osman, Dada, 139-40
Orange Free State (O.F.S), 23;
occupation of Transorangia by the
Boers, 38; British withdrawal, 39;
diamond mining in, 39; Indians in,
52, 55-6, 62, 67, 105, 193, 206,
326, 332, 342; Free State Asiatic
Act, 330, 333; an end to the
contentious issue regarding
lndiansentryinto,403
Padayachi, Ramaswamy, 85-7
Pan African Congress, 426
Parsi(s), 23-4; as satyagrahis, 279
Pass Laws, 420, 425, 426-Pass Sys¬
tem, 426

Passive Resistance, 213-19, 228-32;
origins, 232-4; arrest of first satya-
grahi , 235-6; salvation of Cape
Coloureds in, 288; search for an In¬
dian term for, 243, See also

SATYAGRAHA

Passive Resistance Fund, 310-11,313
Pathans; and question of registration,
253-5; bitterness of, 258; change
of heart among, 270
Peace, Sir Walter, 113
Pearson, W.W., 398
Pegging Act, 423, The Trading and
Occupation of Land Restriction Act
of 1943

Petit, Jehangir, 310
Phoenix, 200-4, based on ideals
inspired by Tolstoy and Ruskin, 204;
Gokhale's visit to, 364; shift from
Tolstoy Farm to, 368, 378; forma¬
tion of a trust, 352
Pillai, M.A. Dooraswamy, 51
Pillai, Mooroogaswamy, 84-6
Pillay, C.M., 224, 226, 242
Pincutt, Frederick, 17
Plague; at Johannesburg, 189-90
Plato, 246

Plymouth Brethren, 58
Polak, H.S.L, 199, 202, 204, 274, 277,
303, 308, 329, 334,345, 359, 368,
391, 396-7, 408, 411, 416,418; his
commendable work in India, 310,
328; in London on behalf of SABIC,
337, 339; Indian comm-unity's debt
to, 340; jailed with Kallenbach, 393;
leading march from Newcastle, 392
Polak, Millie Graham, 203, 345-6,
412-13

Pollock, David, 277
Poqo, 427, an offshoot of PAC
Porbandar, 1 -3, 6,10-11,1 9-20, 50
Pretoria, 23, 26, 29-31 , 42, 52, 55, 57-
68, 74, 79, 106, 147, 149, 156-7, 180,
192, 229-30, 237, 252, 271, 277,
337, 364-6, 400-1 , 403-4
Pretoria Adminstration, 421
Pretoria Convention (1 881 ), 41 , 53
Pretorius, Martin, 40
Progressive Party, 227
Punia; her case taken up, 21 8

Quinn, Leung, 237, 242, 268, 275, 279;
signatory to compromise
arrived at with Smuts, 249
Racial discrimination, 420
Racism (racial discrimination/preju-

INDEX

449

dice), 30, 34, 56-7, 62-3, 68, 71,
80, 84, 107, 116-26, 129-48, 159-
60, 179-82, 184-96, 205-9, 213-14,
266, 275, 286, 323-6, 360, 367-70,
388, 395

Rajchandra (Raychandbhai), 17-18,
59,80, 1 64, 21 1 ; death of, 1 69
Rajkot, 2-6, 8-11, 14, 17-20, 22, 31,
115, 176, 178
Raliatbehn, 2, 348
Rama Sundara, Pandit, 234-6
Ramayana, 354
Rambha, 2

Ranade, Mahadeva Govinda, 111
Raychandbhai, see RAJCHANDRA
Rhodes, Cecil, 42-3, 149
Ripon, Lord, 52, 55, 70, 73-4, 100-1
Ritch, Louis Walter, 189, 197, 202,
224, 282, 288, 329, 334, 340, 408,
413

Roberts, Field-Marshal Lord, 154-6,
159

Robertson, Sir Benjamin, 398,402-4
Robinson, Sir H., 54
Robinson, Sir John, 69-71,118,121
Rosebery Ministry, 101
Rose-lnnes, Sir James, 191,218, 397
Round Table Conference, 421
Royeppen, Joseph, 162, 223, 311,
352-3

Ruskin, John, 200-1 , 246, 303, 355
Rustomji, Parsi, 24, 90, 122-6, 163,
172,201,258,275,309,381

Saiyad Ibrahim, 382
Sanatan Dharma Sabha, 234
Sastri V.S Srinivasa, 422
Satyagraha; essence of, 243-4, 252,
262, 267, 282, 300, 303, 326, 386,
393; a magnificent success in S.A.,
409, 420, 424, 428
Satyagrahi(s), 247, 252, 270, 278, 316,
326, 423; prescriptions for, 372-3;
qualities of a true, 404; sympathy
from India for, 395; Tolstoy Farm a
haven for, 31 6; treatment of, in
Volksrust jail, 271-3. See also
PASSIVE RESISTANCE
Sauer, J.W., 281
Savage, Dr., 209

Savarkar, Vinayak, 289-90
Schlesin, Sonja, 280, 341, 385
Schreiner, W.P, 361 , 397
Searle, Malcolm, 369
Selborne, Lord, 205-6, 218, 223, 226,
239-40, 277, 283

Sermon on the Mount, see BIBLE
Servants of India Society, 307
Setalvad, Chimanlal, 173
Shaka, 36, 43

Shapurji, Sorabji, 265-6, 323
Sharpeville, 426

Shepstone, SirTheophilus, 40, 43
Shravana, 5

Sinha, Sachchidanand, 14
Sinn Fein, 234
Sisuly Walter, 424, 427
Smuts General, 420, 421 , 422, 423,
424

Smuts, Jan Christiaan, 147, 156-7,
227-8, 230, 237, 239, 241 , 245, 247,
250-2, 257, 261-3, 265, 267-70,
277, 279-80, 283, 285-7, 292, 311,
323, 327, 329-30, 341-2, 364. 369-
70, 373-5, 388, -391, 396, 399, 400-
4, 409, 418-19; change of his
portfolio in cabinet reshuffle, 343; fi¬
nal agreement with Gandhi, 408
Sodha, Rambhabai, 325, 327, 334
Sodha, R.M., 324

Solomon, Sir Richard, 221, 226-7,
247, 266, 283,399
(The) Song Celestial , 1 5
South Africa, 20, 22, 26, 29, 31-3
420,421,422,423,424,425, 427,
428, ; British policy at the early stage,
3544; the idea of South African fed¬
eration, 40, 102; Indians/Asians in,
56, 106-8, 193, 196, 207, 323, 327,
395; Anglo-Boer War (1 899-1 902),
149-53,155-7; Blacks in, 834, 157,
193, 207, 323; other non-whites in,
34, 157, 219, 259, 281, 323; draft
constitution of the

proposed Union of, 280; estab¬
lishment of the Union, 323; visit of
the Duke of Connaught to, 327; Union
Government and the Asiatic problem,
328; Immigration Bill gazetted in Feb¬
ruary 1911, 327-36, — revised version
of, 342-3; Gokha-le's visit, 360-5; ha-

450

rassment suffer- ed by Indian immi¬
grants, 344, 369; problem regard¬
ing immigration of
Indians settlers' wives, 369-71;
recourse to satyagraha in the wider
context and the minimum demands
put forward, 375; the crisis, 381-4;
the climax, 385-94; Lord Hardinge's
intervention, 395; controversy about
composition of Commission headed
by Sir William Solomon, 396-9; the
negotiated settlement, 400-4; some
Gujarati merchants dissatisfied with
the accord, 404-5; Indian Relief Act
and other measures, 405-6
South Africans, 428
South Africa British Indian Committee
(SABIC), 224, 233, 248, 282-3
South African Colonial Peple’s Or¬
ganization, 425

South Africa General Mission, 57, 78
South African Indian Congress, 421
South African National Congress,
421

South African Party SAP, 421
South African Republic, 40-2, 62,104,
106

Sparks, Captain Harry, 118, 120
Spradbrow, George, 124
Subutwe Robert, 426
Suppression of Communism Act,
425

Sutherland, Dr., 117
Swadeshi, 232, 302
Swaraj, 232-3, 296, 302
Sydenham, 67-70
Syed Ismail, 192

Tagore, Rabindranath, 306

Talyarkhan, 1 4

Tambo Oliver, 424, 427

Tata, Sir Ratanji Jamshedji, 308, 310

Tatham, R.H., 89

The Asiatic Inquiry Commission, 421
The Color Bar Act 1 926, 421
Theosophical Society, 1 5 N
Theosophists, 15, 59
Thoreau, Henry David, 233-4
Tilak, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar, 11 3, 1 73
Tolstoy, Leo, 59, 80, 211, 274, 303,

GANDHI — ORDAINED IN SOUTH AFRICA

321 -2; his influence on Gandhi, 201 ,
293, 31 9; his "Letter to a Hindoo",
291-2, 320

Tolstoy Farm, 312, 335, 340, 353,
388-92, 41 2 ,420; Gandhi family at,
356; Gokhale's visit to, 362-3; settle¬
ment wound up, 368; simple life on,
314-16,318

(The) Transvaal, 23, 29 420, 421,
422, 423,426; arrival of the Boers,
38; recognition of inde-pendence
by the British, 39; civil war, 40; an¬
nexation by the British, 41 ; grant
of autonomy (Pretoria Convention),
41; discovery of gold-fields, 42, 52;
Law 3 of 1885 as amended in
1886, 54; Indians in, 52-6, 62,
105-6, 143-8, 151, 157, 160, 178,
179-82; Peace Preser-vation Or¬
der, 180, 182; Bazaar Notice is¬
sued in April 1903, 185; Asiatic
Office as an instrument of coer¬
cion, 185; formation of, British In¬
dian Association (BIA), 184; Milner
versus Curzon, 1 87-8; question of
registration, 191; hostile attitude
towards the Indian community, 1 90-
3; the impending grant of self-
government to, with ominous
implications, 206; two draft ordi¬
nances (1906) regarding British
Indians’ entry into, 21 3; composite
draft Asiatic Law Amendment
Ordinance (Black Act) opposed by,
BIA, 214-5, — solemn pledge to
fight against, 216; Black Act passed
with unseemly haste, 218; first
deputation to England (1906-7),
220-4; HMG decline assent to
enactment, 225; duplicity on Lord
Elgin's part, 227; Act 2 (Asiatic
Registration Act) of 1907 (TARA)
passed by the TVL legislature soon
after grant of self-government and
promptly validated by HMG, 227-8;
passive resistance in protest against
registration, 229-30,235-43; Immig¬
ration Restoration Act of 1907
(TIRA) passed with haste, 231;
Gandhi-Smuts compromise, 247-52;

INDEX

451

its aftermath, 253-8; breach of
compromise by Government, 263,
268; resumption of satyagraha, 265;
registration certificates and trading
licenses burnt in protest against
draft Voluntary Registration Valid¬
ation Law, 268-9; a further attempt
at compromise, 269-70; passage of
Asiatics Registration Amendment
Law (Act 36 of 1908), 270; BIA's
insistence on repeal of Act 2 of
1907, 270; tactics adopted by
Government, 271 ; low-key satya¬
graha continued, 271 ,278-9; second
deputation to England (1909), 281-
8; Henry Polak's visit to India, 307;
financial support for Indian struggle,
308-1 1 ; Tolstoy Farm set up in June
1910 to shelter poor families of
satyagrahis, 312; more uncompro¬
mising attitude of Government after
formation of the Union of South
Africa, 323-5; Gandhi-Smuts nego¬
tiations, 333-6; provisional agree¬
ment, 336-7; Townships Act of 1 908
and the Base Metals Act (Gold Law
of 1908), 337; problem of, a part
of the overall South African affairs,
328, 342 j 364, 375; TVL Indians'
role in the last satyagraha cam¬
paign, 379-80, 392
Transvaal Nationat Union, 42
(The Great) Trek, 37
Truth, 168, 178, 196, 347; as basis
of satyagraha, 244
Truth and Reconciliation Commis¬
sion, 428

Tyabji, Badruddin, 111
Tyeb, Haji Khan Mohammed, 25, 60,
64-5,143,181

Uitlanders, 42, 102; their fight for
rights in TVL, 149-50
( Umkhontowe Sizwe ), 427, (Spear
of the Nation) led by Mandela.
Union of South Africa, see under
SOUTH AFRICA

United States of America, 30, 45;
Thoreau's writings against slavery
in, 234

Untouchability, 4; stalking India, 173
Unto This Last, 200, 202, 246
Upanishads, 79, 355

Vedas, 59

Vegetarianism, 7, 12-13, 15, 63, 80;

an article of faith, 176
Verwoerd Dr Hendrik, 426, 427
Victoria, Queen, 55, 111,134, 158,
169

Villiers, Melius de; and his Award,
106,143

Vivekananda, 197
Vora, Haridas Vakhatchand, 183, 348
Vyavaharik, Madanjit, 183-4, 189,
198-9

Wacha, Dinshaw, 112, 173-4
Walton, Spencer, 78
Watson, Colonel, 10
Wedderburn, Sir William, 129, 166,
295

Wellington Convention, 58
Wesieyan Church, 79
Wessels, Justice Sir John, 370
West, Albert, 1 98-9, 201 -2, 21 1 , 273,
340, 355, 394

White(s); against Asiatic enterprise in
trade and commerce, 338; and Gold
Law, 337; support for Indian cause,
259

Wilson, Woodrow, 363
Women's Social and Political Union;
display of courage by British Women
of, 233

Woodgate, General, 156
Wragg, Sir Walter, 48, 88-9
Wybergh, J.W., 304
Wylie, Lieutenant Colonel James S.,
396-7, 402

Wylie, Sir Curzon; assasination of,
281 ,289

Xuma A.B, 424, President of The
ANC, 427

Zoroastrianism (Zarathushtra), 79
‘Zulu (s), 38

Zululand, 36, 40-1, 43-4, 104
Zulu Rebellion; Gandhi's role during,
208

Zulu War (1879), 43

■

TRANSVAAL

ORANGE RIVER
COLONY

NATAL

/I WETIMMA*fTm*U«

BASUTCtl ***
LANQ/A, j

Soon after his departure from South Africa
finally ini 914, while appraising the unsung
deeds of the inmates of Phoenix for the Indian
community, Gandhi had expressed the hope
that ‘some lover of truth’ would one day produce
an adequate account of their ‘secret history’.
The author of this book has gone a long way in
the fulfilment of his hope. His focus, of course,
is on Gandhi’s life and work in that sub-continent
which culminated in the birth of satyagraha and
its application to a complex socio-political
problem. Side by side with the story of Gandhi
are recorded the great sacrifices not only of
Phoenixites and other Indians but also of
Chinese who participated in the struggle against
racial discrimination. Even some Europeans who
extended a helping hand to the Asians during
the different campaigns prominently figure in the
narrative.

Gandhi - Ordained in South Africa traces in
candid detail the gradual evolution of Gandhi’s
personality. It is a fascinating portrayal of a young
Indian’s growth from an ordinary lawyer in search
of a good means of livelihood to an uncommon
man of action. It also delicately deals with the
various aspects of Gandhi’s inner landscape.
The result is a living picture of the Mahatma
in the making.

ATLANTIC
OCEAN

INDIAN

OCEAN

PUBLICATIONS DIVISION

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

CAPE COLONY

Price : Rs. 380.00

ISBN.81-230-0284-X
GLI ENG-REP 034-2007-08

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